Much Ado About Quidditch, Much Ado About You
by cartoonheart94
Summary: blanca thomas is dean thomas' only daughter, sorted into hufflepuff house, she screams every quality of a hufflepuff, well almost because blanca is anything but nice, actually, she can be the queen of mean. The only thing she lives for is Quidditch and she lets no one get in her way. this is her story as she handles life, love and friendship one day at a time. Rated M for language
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

The Sorting

(A/N: i own nothing Harry Potter, so there!)

Blanca shifted nervously on her seat, her palms were sweaty and it seemed like air was something that had taken a rain check that evening. There were about forty five other students around her that day, each waiting in a large room that looked like it could have been a hallway for a giant. Some, like Blanca, were nervous, and others looked pretty confident.

"Aw righ' little uns!" boomed the voice of the large man that accompanied them from Hogsmeade and led them there from the boats, "wait here an' the professor will come fer yer in a jiffy! Good luck!" and with that, he turned on his heel, happily humming a tune to himself as he disappeared round a corner.

Many of the first years were shifty, she could hear a few squeals and whispers.

"I'll probably be a Ravenclaw, though it would be nice to be a Gryffindor, that's were all the cool people are," she heard a boy whisper.

"Nah! For me Gryffindor is the only 'ouse! Both me Mam and me Pa were sorted in it!" she heard another boy say. He had a thick Irish accent and Blanca smiled softly as she recognized that it was Ewan Finnigan, Uncle Seamus' son. They had known each other ever since she was five years old; Blanca would go and stay with the Finnigans at their cottage in Cork when her father was away on business.

"I will not be in Slytherin. Will not! Will not! Will not!" she heard a boy say. She looked to her left and next to her was a girl with bushy red hair and blue eyes, the girl seemed to be comforting a boy that was seated next to her, he had messy black hair and sea green eyes. Blanca thought she had seen him from somewhere before, then she remembered. It was her 8th birthday and she and her father were closing the shop so they could begin their day out.

As she was heading downstairs, the bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the shop. When Blanca got to the landing, she noticed her father was hugging a woman with red hair and greeting a man with messy jet black hair. Instantly, she recognized the pair as THE Ginny Weasley from the Holyhead Harpies and the legendary Harry Potter! They had come in to get some toy brooms for their sons; one of the boys was already skipping around the shop, ooooh-ing and aaahhh-ing at everything, while the other was hiding behind his mother. That was the best birthday Blanca had ever had, meeting Harry Potter was great, but meeting THE Ginny Weasley was even better. Blanca had met many great Quidditch players in her day, when her father would take her along with him on his business trips. But Ginny Weasley, now Ginny Potter, was still the highlight of her life.

That was where she had seen the boy, he was the one that was hiding behind his mother.

"Don't worry Al, you'll easily make Gryffindor, you'll see."

"But what if I'm in…." he shuddered, "what if I'm in Slytherin?" he whispered the last word as though it were poisonous.

"So what if you're in Slytherin?" Blanca blurted out before she could stop herself.

The two turned to face Blanca, the girl had one eyebrow raised.

"Er…."Blanca grappled for words "sorry for barging in but what does it matter if you're in Slytherin?" Blanca knew through and through the answer to this, her father had told her many times before. Dean Thomas was a nice man, but he drew the line at Slytherins or any other families that were obsessed with blood purity. Blanca thought differently, for her, everybody deserved a chance to make an impression before they were judged.

"Because," the girl replied matter-of-factly, "Slytherins are _evil_."

"I don't think so," Blanca said softly, "its okay if you're sorted into Slytherin house, it's who you are on the inside that matters right?"

The girl smiled lightly at this, "Rose. Rose Weasley," she said as she offered her hand for Blanca to shake, "and this is my cousin Albus."

"I think I know you," Blanca said to Albus, "you once came to my Dad's shop to get a broom. Blanca Thomas." She said to the both of them.

"Wait!" Albus said, all anxiety vanishing from his face, "your Dad owns that shop in Diagon Alley? The Broom Closet?"

"Uh-huh." Blanca replied.

"That must be so cool!" he marveled, mostly to himself.

Blanca smiled softly as she let her eyes wander across the room, they stopped when they fell upon a silvery blond head. She could have moved on but something about that boy was mysterious, almost enchanting. Unlike the other first years, he was perfectly still, almost oblivious to the world around him, his steely grey eyes fixed upon a specific spot on the wall in front of him.

"Malfoy kid," Rose offered as she followed Blanca's gaze. "My dad says to stay away from him, he's trouble."

Blanca had heard of the Malfoys, her father had told her about them. None of it was good, according to him, the Malfoys were instrumental in causing the 2nd War. Before Blanca could open her mouth to speak, the large doors opened and in walked a tall, thin woman who had her hair tied in a tight bun at the back of her head. Her face was framed by rectangular glasses that covered her beady eyes and her black robes billowed behind her as she walked towards them.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm your Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Your sorting ceremony is about to begin, so if you could follow me….."

She turned swiftly, robes swishing with her movement, and headed towards the place where Blanca had seen the large man go. The first years quickly followed her, all too afraid to speak. Even Ewan had kept quiet. She led them to an even greater hallway with bigger doors that opened as soon as she stepped in front of them.

If the air had taken a rain check earlier, it had just given in its resignation form as Blanca entered the Great Hall. The light was much brighter in here and there were five long tables. Four had been arranged next to each other in a parallel fashion and the fifth one was on a slightly higher platform, overlooking the four below. Each table seemed to be a sea of color and even though Dean had already described Hogwarts to Blanca, she was still overwhelmed. On the furthest end was a table engulfed in a sea of blue, then came the yellow, then came the red and finally the green. On the higher table sat a group of men and women who had an authoritative look about them, only the giant man seemed to be smiling, Blanca figured they must have been the teachers. She nervously shuffled her feet as she made her way up on a platform that faced all tables. The hall was washed over with silence as McGonagall got a tattered old, burnt-looking piece of leathery material and placed it on a stool in front of them.

Blanca, just like many other first years flinched slightly when the leather jumped to life and revealed that it was a hat.

"Ooooh," the Sorting Hat groaned in a creaky old voice, "the new year is here at last!" Then it chuckled and burst into song.

"_Back in the day when I was young and new and not so very charred,_

_Lived four great friends whose friendship bloomed from great ideas shared,_

_To build a place, a haven a fortress was what each one would yearn,_

_Where they could take the young under their wing so that magic they would learn._

_Though same dream shared, it was hard to achieve,_

_For Rowena, it was all about smarts, for Godric, guts,_

_Darling Helga took them all and cared, but Salazar said 'Magical blood or LEAVE!'_

_Each wanted their way and wondered how to let it be,_

_So they picked up a hat, gave it a mind and LO! Happy Birthday to me!_

_So put me on, and surely-ly_

_I'll tell you where you belong, trust me, you'll see!_

_You might belong to Ravenclaw_

_Where wit and learning is all they're yearning_

_Or Gryffindor, where the daring_

_Those with guts of steel find their dwelling_

_Perhaps Slytherin eh, where the cunning the coy,_

_Meet their loyal friends in the quest for glory_

_Or maybe, just maybe, Hufflepuff is the place for you_

_Those Hufflepuffs loyal till the end,_

_Are the most dedicated people you'll find in this school!_

_So come little ones, do not fear_

_Put me on and hear! Hear!_

_Let the Sorting begin!"_

After the song had finished, the sorting hat looked around, "I spent a year on this! Do I not get any applause?" then, after nervous glances exchanged, the hall boomed with applause. "Much better." The hat said as soon as the clapping died down.

The atmosphere was much calmer after that, and Blanca even dared to draw in a deep breath and Professor McGonagall begun to call out names in alphabetical order.

"Frida Bullstrode!" McGonagall called out, a big, burly girl who had her brown hair in a French plait strode over, the hat was placed on her head and soon, Slytherin was called out. Blanca allowed her mind to wander as she knew that it would be quite some time before the T's were called out.

"Ewan Finnigan!" she called, and Ewan ceased to look as confident as he was earlier, he slowly went up to the stool and allowed McGonagall to place the hat over his salt-and-pepper hair. The hat grunted for about three seconds before bellowing "GRYFFINDOR!"

There was loud applause from the table in red. Ewan looked as though he had won a million Galleons as he skipped to the Gryffindor table.

"Adam Goyle!" McGonagall cried and a big, burly looking boy got up and sauntered to the stool. He was sorted into Slytherin house a few moments later. More names were called out and about half the first years had been sorted, the majority going to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

"Melanie Longbottom" McGonagall called. A tiny girl stepped forward; she had a chubby round face and her long golden-blonde hair was tied in two pigtails. Her big brown eyes were brimming as she scurried to the stool. No sooner had the hat touched her head had it announced "HUFFLEPUFF!" There was loud applause from the table in yellow and a man at the staff table that Blanca recognized as Uncle Neville was clapping really loudly, looking awfully proud of his daughter.

After a few more names, McGonagall called "Scorpius Malfoy!"

A death-like silence filled the hall as the silver haired boy mechanically walked up to the stool. The hat was lowered on his head and a few seconds later, "SLYTHERIN!" was yelled by the hat. There was loud applause from the Slytherin table and a few others politely clapped. More and more names were called out; some students took as long as five minutes with the Sorting Hat and others were sorted as soon as the hat touched their heads.

"Albus Potter!" Blanca glanced over at Albus, who was beginning to look as green as his eyes. He timidly sat on the stool as McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It stayed there for five minutes, it looked as though Albus and the hat were having a conversation inside the hat's brim. After a while, the hat chuckled and yelled "Gryffindor!" There was loud applause from the hall, even louder applause from the table in red. Blanca noticed that even McGonagall had what looked like a smile on her face as Al practically sprinted to the Gryffindor table. Rose was smiling brightly as she mouthed to him, "Told you so!"

A few more names were called, the line started thinning and the Scamander twins were sorted next, both going into Ravenclaw.

"Casablanca Thomas!" Blanca both flinched and cringed inwardly, she hated being called Casablanca. She shakily walked over to the stool and sat there as McGonagall placed the hat over her head.

Blanca jumped half a mile off her seat when she heard the hat's voice in her ear. "Well well well, now what have we here….." it said. Blanca was mortified, the hat had not spoken to anyone else, at least not that she heard of. She looked around and everyone seemed oblivious to the fact that that it had just spoken a few moments earlier.

"Don't worry, no one can hear us, it's just you and me!" the hat chuckled softly, "Daughter of Dean Thomas eh? Gryffindor that one, and a fine one he made too. So Blanca, yes I know you hate to be called Casablanca. It's a silly name if I may say so myself, but we're not here to discuss your parents' lack of imagination!" Blanca raised her eyebrows at this, "What house do you feel you belong to?"

"I dunno….Slytherin maybe… " she replied uncertainly, picking that house because she wanted to prove that a house did not define a person, and mostly because green was her favorite color; it was the colour of the Holyhead Harpies.

"No no, you're far too honest for your own good, the Slytherin serpent wouldn't fit well with you, decisions, decisions…." It muttered.

"Then why did you ask me in the first place?" Blanca snapped.

"Ah, there roars the Gryffindor lion! But something tells me you could do well in either three. The Ravenclaw thirst for knowledge is present, and so is the honest, loyal Hufflepuff. You're not afraid of hard work are you?" it was more of a statement than a question. Blanca just decided to concentrate on drawing deep, calm breaths as the hat rambled on about how it was going to have to eliminate two houses so she could finally be sorted. "Ah, a fairly patient one too," it observed, "you would do well in Hufflepuff, though 'nice' is not exactly what I would use to describe your personality…but wait! The Gryffindor streak is there, loud and proud! You have quite some backbone there young lady….oh, I have never had such a good challenge come my way since the likes of Filius, Minerva and Gwengog. So, which shall it be; Gryffindor, where you would shine, or Hufflepuff, which would bring out the best in you? Decisions…..decisions…."

By this time, everyone around was wondering what was taking so long, five minutes had gone by already!

"Okay! Okay! I've made my decision…which I either could regret or live to be proud of…my! I wish I could split you into two people already! Okay! You know what? I think you would make a very interesting…..HUFFLEPUFF!"

Blanca could hear McGonagall draw a sigh of relief as the hall erupted in applause. Blanca walked over to the table and took a seat, thanking Merlin her fifteen minutes in the spotlight was finally over.

"That took long yeah?" she heard a squeaky voice say, Blanca turned to see Melanie Longbottom smiling at her. All Blanca could do was nod shakily. She looked up when she heard "Louis Weasley!" a tall, blond boy who looked handsome for eleven casually sauntered to the stool. The hat muttered a something for a few seconds, Blanca was sure they were conversing. At the end, the hat bore a confused look on its face, if a hat could look confused, as it announced "RAVENCLAW!"

At first, there was a shocked silence in the hall, then a series of confused whispers followed.

"….first Weasley to ever be sorted out of Gryffindor house…and I mean first _ever!_" she heard someone say from her table. Then, an uncertain applause started from the Ravenclaw table, and like a wave, everybody else joined in.

"Rose Weasley!" Rose scurried to the stool.

"Another Weasley eh?" the hat boomed as it settled on her head, "Let's see if we can get more surprises…nope! We're back people, Gryffindor!" and loud cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table.

A few more names were called and when the last name, Antonio Zabini, was called and sorted into Slytherin, the Headmistress gave a speech and introduced the new prefects, new head girl (who came from Slytherin) and new head boy (who came from Ravenclaw). After that, the tables were magically filled with food and drink. Blanca grabbed a goblet of water, greedily downing its contents. Never had water tasted so good. During the feast, Blanca acquainted herself with Melanie Longbottom (Uncle Neville's daughter; they had never met because Blanca had only met Neville at the Finnigans' and at the shop, which Melanie had never visited despite living in Diagon Alley), Bernie Macmillan, Linda Jordan (her twin brother, Lance, had been sorted into Gryffindor), Calvin Watterson and a few other students. When the feast ended, McGonagall read a few last minute rules made by Filch and then dismissed the students after that.

The first year Hufflepuffs were led by two prefects who were in their house, along the way, they were given a brief history on the house and the facts about the house, like the famous people that came from there.

"Hufflepuff may be the least heard about house at Hogwarts," the boy was saying, "but it has produced just as many great people as the other houses. Talk about legendary arithmancer Bridget Wendlock; the first ever female Minister of Magic, Artemisia Lufkin; and also the founder of Hogsmeade the Hengist of Woodcroft. Hufflepuff was also instrumental in fighting for the end of the 2nd war; did you know that Hufflepuffs were the second in majority of those that were fighting for good? The most, as you may guess, were the Gryffindors. Many great, talented Hufflepuffs laid their lives down for the overthrow of the Dark Lord, Auror Nymphadora Tonks and Cedric Diggory amongst the lot that died while helping Harry Potter save the world. And in pop culture, Gwengog Jones from the Holyhead Harpies, Myron Wagtail and Heathcoate Barbary from the Weird Sisters came from Hufflepuff House too." Blanca felt a sense of pride when she heard the name Gwengog, not that the other names did not matter, she just happened to love Gwen more than them. By this time, they had reached the Hufflepuff common room. Instead of a door or portrait (like Dean had described his common room entry), there was a large pile of barrels loaded on top of one another.

"This is where the common room is," the girl prefect said, "tap the barrel second from the bottom in the middle of the second row to the tune of Helga Hufflepuff, like this," she tapped the mentioned barrel with her wand in a number of times, each tap differing in speed, rhythm and pressure. When she was done, the barrel swung open to reveal a large, circular room with yellow hangings and comfortable-looking black arm chairs. There was a fire burning in the large fireplace and there were many portraits of Helga Hufflepuff and a lot of other famous figures. Large, circular windows overlooked the castle grounds, revealing that they were at ground level, "don't worry, the windows are enchanted that no one can see them from the outside. So everyone that's out only sees bricks." The girl prefect, who Blanca came to know as Rosalie, said.

"Come on boys, let's go to your dorms," Fin, the boy prefect said, and he and the four Hufflepuff boys followed him.

"It's time I showed you to your dorms as well little badgers," Rosalie said. And she led them to a round barrel-top like door with the words "_First Year Girls_" written on a plaque. Rosalie swung the door open and stepped in, the girls following close behind.

Just like the common room, the room was draped in black and yellow. There were five four-poster beds made out of pure ebony, each had honey-yellow drapes and black covers. At the edge of each bed was a trunk and Blanca noticed hers was at the furthest end, near the window.

"Okay, here is where you will dwell from now on," Rosalie said in her kind voice, "goodnight. If anyone would like anything, feel free to come to my dorm room- it's the sixth year dormitory." And with that, she closed the door behind her.

The girls looked around in silence before Linda broke the silence, "This is _awesome!_"

"Yeah, it's really wicked," said a very chubby girl with auburn hair, Blanca remembered her as Paige Cobb; she was already changing into her pyjamas. Blanca decided to follow suit and walked over to her trunk that had a cursive "_C_" engraved in the centre.

"Yes, it's super amazing," said a tiny girl with over-sized glasses that kept slipping off her nose, she had olive skin and her hair was very long, Blanca recognized her as Florence Ordaz. Florence looked like she wanted to say something but looked unsure, twiddling her fingers, she finally asked, "I just wanted to know, who is this Potter I keep hearing about everywhere? And what was the 2nd War?"

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, "You've never heard of Harry Potter?" Paige asked in disbelief.

Florence shook her head, "I'm Muggleborn." She explained.

"Oh," Melanie said in a small voice, "don't worry, we'll tell you all about it!" she hopped to Florence's bed and put an arm around her.

"Yeah, we'll all fill in what we know and you'll know who the legendary Harry Potter is soon enough," Linda chimed in, "And by tomorrow, we'll all know who the legendary James Potter is," she said in a giggly voice.

"Who?" Blanca asked.

"James Potter, prankster extraordinaire, he's a 2nd year," Linda explained, "My sister said he is the best looking boy in his year, and he also pulls some hilarious pranks!"

"Uh-huh," Melanie said, "but now, we tell Florence the story of Harry Potter."

And they spent the entire night telling an intrigued Florence on the adventures of Harry Potter and how he killed evil Lord Voldermort and, with the help of his friends and others, he managed to save the world and end the 2nd War. Each girl occasionally interrupting the story to put in an important detail or two they had heard from their parents.

It was well past mid-night by the time they had finished. Rosalie came in to check on them and found they were still awake. She crossed her arms over her large bosom, she looked unimpressed, not angry, but unimpressed, "Do you know what time it is? Get to bed now." She said. And in a hurry, the girls all got under their covers and drew closed their drapes.

Blanca shifted herself onto a much more comfortable position and thought about what the Sorting Hat had said.

"Yes, this will be very interesting," she agreed to herself as she turned over and drifted off into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Whatever Happened To Dean Thomas

(Five Years Later)

It was a pleasant day that Thursday afternoon; the wind blew softly, giving off the sweet smell of autumn, the sun had perfectly positioned itself as if to say 'Hey! Come out! It's a great feeling out here!' The air was not as humid today and even the buzz in the street of Diagon Alley seemed musical. Yes, it was one of those August days that screamed perfection. But Blanca noticed none of this as she sat, statue-like, by her bedroom window, her dark eyes fixed upon something in the sky.

"You know," a voice made Blanca jump, "if you keep waiting like this, they'll never come."

"Dad! Don't say that!" Blanca cried.

Dean Thomas chuckled lightly as he handed his daughter a glass of orange juice. He watched her as she took a nervous sip and shakily put the glass on her bedside table.

Funny little thing, he thought, just like her mother.

At the end of the 2nd War, Dean, like many of his peers, decided not to go on with school. Instead, he packed up his bags and travelled the world alone. To most, Dean Thomas had just vanished from the face of the earth, seeing as close to no news was heard of him since Voldermort's defeat. But Dean was well alive, travelling from city to city, visiting small islands and large empires, muggle and magical. He took up various odd jobs from here and there, and even briefly played Quidditch for the Moutohora Macaws of New Zealand. Dean was living the life, thinking that was all he was going to do for the rest of his life, exploring and living the wild, nomadic life, but it was in Morocco where his life was going take a turn for the different.

Dean was in Casablanca, studying the city's muggle history and trading system when he met and fell in love with Lindiwe Tau, a muggle girl from Botswana who was there for scientific archeological research. A year later, they were happily married and in two year's time, a baby was on the way. Knowing that Dean was a wizard, Lindi agreed to go back to England with him, so that they could raise a family together. Dean put together all his savings, bought a little shop in Diagon Alley with a little apartment on top and started a broom repair business, something he learnt in Japan.

On July 2nd of that year, they welcomed into the world a beautiful little girl, Casablanca Nandi Thomas. With business doing well and Dean re-establishing contact with his friends, the Thomases couldn't have been be happier, and all was well until one morning, Dean came up from the shop to get some supplies. He was on his way back down when he heard Blanca crying, rushing to where she was, he found her in her crib, her mother on the floor, seemingly lifeless.

"Daddy! Ma's not waaaaykin up!" she bawled.

Dean rushed over to his wife and felt her pulse, she wasn't breathing. After she was rushed to 's the healers confirmed that it was Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and since no cure had been found yet, there was little they could do. Potions to prolong her life were administered, but in a few months, Lindi had passed away, leaving Dean with Blanca, who was just over three years old.

The years quickly went by, and Dean's status grew to phenomenal heights. He widened his specialization, not only did he heal brooms now, he had contracts with various Quidditch Teams and Broom Making companies that had him sell their products, Dean bought off the two shops next to his and it was now a three level shop known as 'The Broom Closet'. People poured in all day long to get their brooms fixed, others to buy new brooms and some to get the latest Quidditch supplies. Due to this, Dean would sometimes travel to faraway places to offer consultancy on brooms.

But most of the time, like today, it was just him and his little girl. And even though they could afford to live in a much bigger house, they still lived on top of the shop, thanks to Blanca's insistence on staying there.

"It has way too many memories!" she had said once her father had brought up the topic.

Dean chuckled again at that memory, which earned him a glare from the small girl that was in front of him.

"It's not funny Dad!" she hissed once more, "my O. are coming and you sit here laughing away! They practically determine my future!"

"But I thought you were going to play pro-Quidditch, you don't really need good grades to get there."

"What if I don't make it in Quidditch? I still need to keep my options open…and besides, you're more respected if people know you're smart."

"Is this about proving to people that Hufflepuffs are not stereotypically dumb? We've had this talk before honey, it doesn't matter what people think."

"No Dad, it's not! You of all people should know that I would never even imagine being in any other house. I'm a Hufflepuff and mighty proud of it!"

"Yes sweetie…..but you could have done better in Gryffindor…" he said jokingly, which earned him a playful nudge.

"I don't know how you can say that, most Gryffindors are way too arrogant for themselves," she muttered.

Dean feigned shock and sadness, "Oh my! That was harsh; I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be nice. However did you end up in that house?"

"Hufflepuffs are loyal, dedicated hard workers that value an honest day's work. Of course I belong there!"

Dean smiled and tapped her gently on her head, "I'm just glad you haven't ended up in Azkaban-"

"Yet," Blanca chipped in, "I haven't killed Potter yet." She wiggled her eyebrows at him playfully.

Dean laughed, "I'm going downstairs to help the others, and you can come if you want to, the guys will be very happy to see you…." He put on his best 'please side with me' smile.

Blanca groaned, "Are you sure it's going to take the pressure off?"

"Guaranteed." Came the reply.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

MALFOY MANNER

Blanca was downstairs in the shop with her father. With some coaxing from him that her occupying herself with something while waiting would take some of the pressure off, she was at the Balls section with one of the shop assistants, Rob, they were taking inventory on a new shipping of Quaffles that had just come in from Spain.

"Why so glum?" Rob asked as she passed him a ball she just recorded.

Blanca sighed, "Oh nothing, just my O. that's all." She feigned a small smile.

Rob gave her a reassuring smile, "I told you, you should have dropped out in 3rd year when you still had the chance. Even though being a squib blows big time, at least you don't have to worry about stupid stuff like grades and all!" he winked at her, this managed to make Blanca crack a real smile.

"Funny funny ha ha!" she replied.

"Don't worry," he said, picking up a rag to wipe some dust off a shelf, "knowing you, you have probably done fine!" Blanca looked up at the tall scrawny-looking boy with a shock of orange hair and a face strewn all over with freckles, he flashed another of his bright smiles and went back to work. Blanca laughed silently; this boy always knew what to say to her.

"Blanca, could you come over here for a second?" her father called from one of the shop windows, "Now, which Quidditch robes do you think I should put up for display?- and don't say the Holyhead Harpies, they have hung here for the past six months!"

"But they're popular!" Blanca argued.

"Not so much anymore," Charlie, another attendant, said, "not since their game with Puddlemere Utd last Thursday, they were beaten silly!"

"They were?" Dean asked, clearly surprised. Even though he traded in Quidditch, he didn't really quite follow the games, instead, he stuck to his love for Muggle football, which he either watched from the telly upstairs, or travelled to watch live.

Blanca shuddered; she remembered listening to the game from the radio, with Lee Jordan on commentary. His happy, velvety voice on the radio had been something Blanca had always liked, it reminded her so much of Lance, her boyfriend-oops! Ex-boyfriend. She and he had broken up about two weeks ago and Blanca was still getting used to the feeling of referring to him as her ex. The game was going horribly for the Harpies, Chasers Gillian Wood and Greta Jones were out sick and one of the Beaters, Sonny Blue, had been kicked out of the game due to foul play. So, the game pretty much blew, and hearing Lee's voice, which was very much like his son's, did not make the situation any better for Blanca.

"Their worst game in a hundred years!" Matt, another attendant, chimed in.

"Sorry hun, but the Harpies need some time off display," Dean said, "and besides, the other robes are beginning to mould."

Blanca knew she was losing this one, "Fine. Which ones do you have in mind?"

"Due to recent developments, two options are open, either Puddlemere Utd. Or the Chudley Cannons." Blanca wrinkled her nose slightly at the mention of Puddlemere.

"Dad!"

"Pick one- before I do." This was going to be difficult, Puddlemere were the Harpies' No.1 rival and the Cannons had not won a match in forever.

"Fine." She huffed, "Have the Cannons, besides, they still have a cult following, take a look a Rose's dad. Anyway, I'm not betraying the Harpies."

Dean smiled, and with a flick of his wand, the manikins were flying around in bright orange robes. Blanca studied the way her father swished his wand around, she loved that wand. Back when she was younger, she would sneak a few holds of the lovely piece of wood. Whenever he would cook and left it on the kitchen counter, whenever he would take a nap she would grab it from his bedside table and feel the smooth, lovely piece of wood with its spiral handle. "Maple, unicorn hair, 15 inches, slightly springy." Blanca memorized the make of his wand by the time she was seven, it was exactly the wand she wanted to have when she was going to Hogwarts.

"Ah, the traveler's wand," it had been called by Ollivander the time they visited his shop the first time she was going to Hogwarts, "I'm sorry dearie, but no two wands are the same. You could try the sister wand," he said when she asked for a wand like her father's, but even the sister wand did not choose her. Instead, the one that chose her was Cedar, had dragon heartstring, was 11 inches long and was stiff. "The Dark Horse, full of surprises, quite unpredictable but very loyal to its owner," Ollivander said.

A tapping on the window next to Blanca shook her from her thoughts. She looked and there, holding an envelope, was a large, majestic-looking owl, Blanca felt her legs turn to jelly. The owl tapped some more in annoyance but Blanca didn't budge. Leila, the only female shop assistant, had to rush from her place at the pay-point counter to open the window for the annoyed owl.

The owl settled on the counter next to Blanca and ruffled its feathers angrily. "I'm so sorry I didn't let you in quicker," Blanca pleaded, trying to make amends by feeding it some nuts that Dean kept in the shop for delivery owls. Blanca shakily untied the envelope from the owl and carefully set it on the table as though it would explode any minute. The owl softly hooted and left the shop.

By this time, all five people had gathered around her; Dean, Matt, Charlie, Rob and Leila. As Blanca tore the envelope open, a smaller piece of parchment fell out. She picked it up, wondering what it could be about, she couldn't have been made a prefect; Florence and Bernie already had that post, and besides, no staff member in their right state of mind would ever consider her for such a job. So, gingerly unrolling it, silently praying that it was not something bad, like an expulsion note for turning Potter into a bug, she lifted it up so that she could read it clearly. It was from Professor Sprout; Hufflepuffs Head of House, Blanca quickly read through the large, bubbly writing and could not believe what the note had said. She read it again and again before Rob hastily cut the silence and yelled, "Okay! What is it about already?"

"It's from Professor Sprout," her voice was little more than a whisper, "I made captain of the Quidditch team…I'M THE NEW CAPTAIN!" she yelled, waving the parchment around.

"Alright!"

"Way to go!"

"Congratulations!"

"Can we see the O. now?" Charlie bluntly asked which earned him multiple glares from Dean, Leila and Rob.

"So much for ruining the celebration," Leila muttered.

"No, it's okay," Blanca said in a small voice, the butterflies had come back again, and this time, it seemed that they had brought a couple more friends over. She swallowed hard and unrolled the larger piece of parchment with unsteady hands.

It read:

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) _

_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Acceptable (A)_

_Fail Grades: Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

_CASABLANCA NANDI THOMAS HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: E_

_Astronomy: A_

_Care of Magical Creatures: D_

_Charms: E_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts: E_

_Divination: T_

_Herbology: O_

_History of Magic: A_

_Muggle Studies: E_

_Potions: O_

_Transfiguration: O_

Blanca's breathing became less and less constricted as she read the paper over and over again. She had always known she would fail those two subjects, Divination was all guesswork to her and there was no chance she would have passed Care of Magical Creatures given that a Blast-Ended Skrewt had fractured her neck half-way through the exam. But that did not matter now; she was now a N.E.W.T student.

"Blanca!" her father broke the silence, "nine O. !", he flung her from her seat and spun her around, "and let's not forget the three O's in there! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah mate!" Rob playfully punched her on her shoulder, "told you you'd do good!"

"Congratulations!" Leila pulled her in a hug.

"Well done!"

"Yeah, well done champ!"

"This calls for a celebration! Tonight, we close an hour early, at 18:00hrs, The Leaky Cauldron everybody!" Dean yelled, "I'd better owl Seamus!"

"Dad!" Blanca protested, but she went unheard, Dean was already cha-cha-ing towards the back door singing, "My daughter's a N.E.W.T student….she got nine O. …..N.E.W.T student…."

Dean and Seamus had always had this friendly competition between them, and Blanca's success would not go unheard. Blanca was beaming, Dean was opening the back door that led to the stairway when the shop bell rang.

Two pairs of expensive black shoes walked in, the bodies that the shoes belonged to were clad in the most expensive robes money could buy and with their hair combed in the same style, the Malfoys could have passed for brothers.

Dean immediately stiffened and coolly walked towards them, Blanca noticed from the corner of her eye that his grip on his wand had tightened.

"In the middle of a little celebration are we?" the senior Malfoy sneered.

"How may I help you Ma-Mr. Malfoy?" Dean asked as politely as he could through gritted teeth.

"Just came in for a look-see," his voice drawled on, sounding bored, "my son here would like a new broom. Could have imported one myself but he insists that your place is," he sighed, "the best."

Blanca was clearly shocked that Scorpius Malfoy had referred to this shop, she looked at the boy who was standing behind his father and right now, with that hideous sneer on his face, it was almost impossible to believe.

"Actually sir, you have come to the right place," Leila started to say as she walked towards them; "if you could follow-" she stopped dead in her tracks by the icy cold glare she received from Malfoy.

"Now now Thomas, you need to keep a leash on your Squibs…."

Dean took a step towards Malfoy, his voice dangerously low, "I will not tolerate your coming into my property to insult my employees, if you want to buy something, please do, if not, it would be nice if you left. My daughter and I- together with the rest of our family" he motioned to the four people standing in the shop, "have some celebrating to do."

Draco Malfoy let his eyes leave Dean's face and had them settle on Blanca for a few moments, the steely grey eyes then trailed down to the piece of parchment she held in her hands.

"You mean the Hufflepuff? Yes, I've heard of her, got your O. too eh? Or must I say, O.W.L? but don't worry, most Hufflepuffs don't even manage to get their coveted little Herbology of theirs….especially not with that degenerate Longbottom around now-"

"GET OUT!" Dean was livid; he had a protective arm around his daughter as he pointed his wand at the sneering face of Malfoy.

Blanca was hurt, Draco Malfoy merely smirked, behind him Blanca saw Scorpius; a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes before they went back to their expressionless demeanor.

Once outside the shop, Scorpius glared at his father, "Couldn't you just have kept quiet and let us get the broom before you could insult all those people?"

"I've told you before son, I never waste good money on filthy blood traitors like him!" Malfoy spat.

Scorpius felt uneasy at the term 'Blood-traitor', Blanca was Rose's best friend, and if he was not in her good books he was afraid she might influence Rose away from him, that was why he needed the Thomas girl on his side before she knew what was going on. He had only started seeing Rose over the summer and was already sure he was in love with her; nobody else knew that they were together but he knew that it was only a matter of time before Blanca found out. This was why he was so angry at his father.

"By the way, is that the Hufflepuff Antonio said was better than you at Potions? You need to pull your socks up; you can't be threatened by a Hufflepuff!"

"Yes father," Scorpius agreed, even though he heard nothing his father had said. He was too busy thinking what would happen if his blood-purity-crazy father found out he was seeing someone from the No.1 blood-traitor family in Britain. He quickened his step to match his father's as they rounded a bend to enter Knockturn Alley.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

AT THE LEAKY CAULDRON

The Leaky Cauldron was fairly packed that evening, which was not surprising as the summer holiday was not over yet. It was hot in there and Blanca was thankful she only had on a pair of shorts and a tank top under her cloak, near the bar, Blanca could hear the kind voice of Madame Hannah, Melanie's mother as she gave out orders to the many waiters bustling around the pub.

Blanca and her family walked over to one of the tables near the door and ordered six Butterbeers. "Here's to today, here's to Blanca and here's to family!" Dean said as he raised his glass.

"Here here!" they all said in unison.

"And here's to getting drunk tonight!" Rob added.

"Here here!" they all laughed, knowing that Rob was one to never get drunk.

The evening carried on with them reminiscing on good times in the past, and Rob was telling a story of his encounter with a Muggle mobile phone, (Blanca had muggle grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, so she was no stranger to muggle devices), he begun talking about how the thing sprung to life and started to make a dreadful din when Blanca heard a dreadful din of her own.

She heard a very girly laugh that she knew only too well and looked up to see Lexi Prince, a Gryffindor in her year walk in. Practically draped on her arm was Lance, Blanca felt sick to her stomach. Lexi was the girl she had caught him with, the same girl he swore was no one to him and now they were an item? Luckily for her, Lexi was too busy swishing her long raven hair and Lance was too busy ogling her boobs that none of them noticed her as they made their way to the furthest corner of the pub.

"Well," Leila said as she downed her last Firewhisky, "that was pretty epic Rob! I must be heading home now, thank you Mr. Thomas, and goodnight." She said as she got up from her seat.

Matt was next to get up and was closely followed by Charlie and Rob, Blanca was mighty thankful that they were leaving because she too wanted to get back home, something she wanted to do ever since Lance and his bimbo walked in.

"Alright champ, last drink before we leave yeah?" Dean said as he sipped his Firewhisky. Blanca was nodding in agreement when she heard a voice that made her cringe.

"!" came James Potter's voice from the entrance. The Potter boy walked in and behind him was the whole entire Potter-Weasley clan. With the exception of Hugo and Lily, probably because they were still too young to be out that late. Typical, Blanca thought, of course these people did not start any celebration before 20:00hrs, at least not on James' watch.

"Dad, I'm done, let's go," Blanca said as she hurriedly got up from her chair, she loved the Weasleys, they were like family to her, but she was in no mood to face their loud rambunctious behaviour just yet, especially with Lance's presence in the room which would definitely not go unnoticed.

Before she could even leave the table, "Blanca!" another voice made her cringe on the inside. It belonged to Rose Weasley, Blanca's best friend. Rose's curly red hair flew behind her as she ran towards her friend to hug her. "Hello Mr. T!" she gave Dean a quick hug. "Nice hair by the way, B!"

"Hi Rose!" Blanca said, "Thankyou! It's been so long, we were just leaving-"

"Leaving!" a loud voice boomed, "Nonsense!" the voice belonged to none other than Ronald Weasley himself. He and Harry had just walked in and they must have heard the last bit of the conversation.

"Harry! Ron!" Dean exclaimed.

"Dean Thomas!" Ron bellowed again, Blanca suspected he might have already had something to drink, "C'mere ol' mate! We have a lot of catching up to do!"

"Yeah," Harry said, "sit down with us! You have been awfully quiet these past months!" he flashed Blanca a smile, "Blanca, dear, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm good," she replied in a tiny voice, clearly, she had lost this one and was going to have to stay the night.

"We were just celebrating her O. !" Dean beamed, Blanca looked embarrassed, she did not like it when her father bragged about her.

"Really?" Harry said, "We're here for Albus and Rose's! So, for you my friend, the party continues because you are not leaving just yet! It's going to be for Blanca, Al and Rosie, Louis could have been here, but they are in France."

"Apparently, Phlegm doesn't think they are spending enough time with her side of the family!" a female voice offered. It was Ginny, she had just come in with Hermione and Angelina.

"I thought we had stopped calling her that," Harry chuckled.

"You did. I reserve it for when she has her episodes!" she put her purse on the counter and turned to Dean to give him a hug. Hermione had just given Blanca a hug and was saying, "It's been too long dear, how have you been?"

"Good," Blanca replied giving Angelina a hug. That was typical of the Potter-Weasley women, they seemed to have an excess of hugs.

"Come on B, we could get old just listening to these old folks," Rose said as she dragged her friend away from the large group of adults to the table in the corner dangerously near where Lance and Lexi were.

"Blanca!" Albus leapt up from his seat to give her a hug.

"'Sup, Blankie!" Fred said as he grinned up at her.

"Hi Fredward!" she retorted.

"Hello Blanca," Lucy and Molly said softly in unison. Sometimes, Blanca wondered if those two were joined at the hip.

Blanca scanned the table, she sighed with relief that James was not there and deduced that Dominique was in France, but where was Roxanne?

"Roxy's on another hot date tonight," Fred replied when she asked. "A boy that was in Slytherin...I wonder how much I could make from blackmail cause I know Dad doesn't know…" he said the last bit to himself mostly.

Just then, James came back to the table with Butterbeers and a bottle of Firewhisky.

"All right people, time to get DRUUUNN-" he stopped in mid-sentence when his eyes fell upon Blanca.

"Thomas." He sneered.

"Potter." She replied.

Blanca and James did not like each other. Everybody knew it, he couldn't stand her guts and she his. To Blanca, James Potter was the most self-absorbed, obnoxious, ego-istic, narcissistic person that she ever met, and by the way, she had met the Malfoys and Parkinsons. The worst was the way he treated girls like they were pieces of meat that were created for him to devour. To James, Blanca was a loud, annoying little bint that was probably put on earth to torment him. God! However she ended up in Hufflepuff was a mystery to him, weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be nice naïve little harmless people? This girl behaved as though she belonged to Slytherin!

Blanca could remember her and James' first run-in. She was just a few weeks old at Hogwarts and James and his posse made it their mission to prank every first year in school. Blanca was on her way to Charms when James called her, "Oi! Thomas!", he was at the end of the corridor near a door, his hands were full with jars of what looked like pickles .

"Yeah."

"Could you come here a moment? I need you to help me open this door for me, my hands are full."

"Sure thing." She walked up to him and easily opened the door. The moment it opened, something exploded in her face and Blanca was covered in a gooey foul-smelling green liquid.

James was roaring with laughter as the jars disappeared from his arms, they were charmed. The rest of his friends emerged from their hiding places and joined in the laughter.

"Scourgify." Blanca muttered as she pointed her wand to her face and robes and they were clean, then turning to James, she said with a polite smile on her face, "Why, James Potter, what you did was not very nice. People usually prefer not to be covered in smelly goo you know, and I think an apology would be in order."

James burst into more laughter, "Do you believe her!" he asked his friends amid laughter, turning to her, he said, "you're really funny kid, but just why would I want to apologize to you?"

"Because, something like this could happen to you," she said as she pointed her wand at him, "Calovorio- Maxima!"

James laughed as the spell hit him. "What was that? A tickling charm? Oh you little first years…"

"Uh James, I think you might want to see this," Fred said nervously. He led James to a more reflective door and James screamed at what he saw. He was completely bald and had no eyebrows. The spell lasted two weeks and Blanca had to serve a detention with Filch.

That was the beginning of the Potter-Thomas feud, they had fewer run-ins these past years but their rivalry was clear on the Quidditch pitch.

So now, here he was, still holding the Butterbeers and staring coldly down at her.

"What Potter? Cat got your tongue?" she asked.

"Shut up Thomas, oh by the way, I ran into Lance, your boyfriend?" he leaned closer in her ear and said, "Though he looks pretty happy with Lexi McBigTits."

"Nice to meet you too Potter," Blanca said sarcastically.

"Okay, break it up already you two!" Albus cut in, "and James, go somewhere."

James took a swig of his Firewhisky and went over to the bar where a pretty blonde girl was sitting alone.

"So," Albus turned to Blanca, "how was your summer?"

"Good. Little much happened, I went to Prague, and then stayed with the Finnigans for a bit and then there was that stint at Grandma Thomas'. Mostly I was just at home helping dad with the shop. But it was good, mostly."

"You are so lucky, getting to travel every time," Albus mused, "sometimes I wish my dad was as cool as yours."

"Yeah, says the son of Harry Potter!" Blanca said.

"That's the thing, you see, I have expectations to live up to, and seeing as dear brother over there has little hope," he gestured to James who was already playing tongue-hockey with the girl, "oh who am I kidding? Seeing as my brother has absolutely no hope for his future, everybody kind of sees me as a mini Harry."

"Well, let's face it Al, you are his spitting image," Blanca observed, "and had it not been for the amazing world of contact lenses, super old people would call you Harry had you worn glasses like he does."

Albus ignored her and continued, "But as for your case, you have absolutely nothing to live for! You could make a complete arse of yourself and nobody would bat an eyelid!"

"Wow, thank you for that Al," Blanca said sarcastically.

Al pulled her closer to him and draped an arm around her, Blanca was used to sitting with him like this, she buried her head in his shoulder to smell his all-so-familiar scent. "You see my friend," he said, "you can run with the wild horses."

"Hey," Rose, who had until now, been absorbed by her butterbeer, said, "Blanca, is that _Lance_ with _Lexi_?"

Blanca felt her stomach do a few hoola-hoops, she knew somebody was going to take notice, especially with Lexi's laugh that seemed to have gotten louder over the summer.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Rose looked surprised, "He's your boyfriend is he not?"

Blanca shrugged, trying her best to look indifferent, "Used to be….until about three weeks ago."

"What!" Rose whispered, she looked around the table to make sure only the three of them were in on the conversation. "How come you didn't owl me?"

"Because it's none of your business Rosie," Al quipped, which won him one of the signature Rose Weasley glares.

"Of course it is! Blanca is my best friend!"

"Tawny got her wing fried last term, remember? So Hagrid is still taking care of her," Blanca explained.

"You could have used one of your dad's owls."

"How was your summer you guys?" Blanca decided to completely change the subject. Al quickly took the hint and responded.

"Good. Did the usual, spent the first few weeks at the Burrow, then went home, then went to Uncle George's, then went to Rose's and we're back at the Burrow! It's closest to Diagon Alley and King's Cross, so we'll-"

"Be able to easily get back to school on Sunday." Blanca finished. The system had always been the same, she spent a lot of time at the Burrow and at Rose's so she knew the pattern.

"Yeah. And as you may already have guessed, there was plenty of action going on; Molls here had her first boy over, Uncle Percy almost cursed his eyes off-"

"But Molly's seventeen! She should be able to do what she wants!"

"Tell that to Uncle Perce, glad he had to work late today. And James also brought home one of his latest flames, lasted only two weeks, poor girl, Lily spiked her tea with one of Uncle George's boil-raising potions! Ah, what a sight it was, you should have been there, even mum passed a tiny snigger. Only James was not amused, poor Lily ended up with frog eyes in her shampoo!"

Blanca smiled at Al, she loved it when he lost himself in a story and got all animated like he was right now. "Which was it this time?" she asked.

Rose was the one who replied, "Chloe Summers, the Gryffindor in Dominique's year, you know, blonde hair, legs up to here!" she held up her hand to describe the leg length. "And speaking of blonde hair and long legs, where is Mel? She lives here doesn't she?"

Melanie Longbottom was Blanca's other best friend, they immediately became close from day one at Hogwarts; each finding comfort in the fact that the other knew what it was like to live in a busy street with their parents running businesses there. Blanca thought of her two best friends, they were as different as chalk and cheese. Sometimes she wondered if they would have even been friends had it not been for her sake. Rose was the more practical one, the smart one who dealt with facts and believed in tough love. Mel, on the other hand, was the happy, dreamy, fragile angel who believed in everyone and everything. So, to keep Rose from cracking and Mel from crying, Blanca would take turns between the two, but there were rare moments when the three would be together and feelings wouldn't be hurt.

"She's probably upstairs gazing at the stars or something, you know how mystic she can get sometimes," Blanca replied. "So, we're N.E.W.T students now eh?"

"Yep!" Al took a swig of his butterbeer, "Got O's in D.A.D.A and Charms! Dad's over the moon. You?"

"I did okay, only failed Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, Rose, how'd you do? All O's right?"

Rose looked down at her butterbeer, "Well yeah, sort of….."

"She got all O's except for Care of Magical Creatures!" Al cut in, "That's why she's so sullen! Loosen up Rosie, it's only one subject!"

"Yeah, but I feel like I let Hagrid down….."

Albus rolled his eyes and smiled at Blanca, who mouthed, "Typical."

Feeling the need to change the subject- again, Blanca sat up and said, "Well, we got a visit from the Malfoys today."

Rose snapped her head up a little too quickly; that did not go unnoticed by Blanca.

"What did those slime balls want?" Al asked.

"Hey! Don't call them that! It's not nice," Blanca retorted.

"Yes, St. Thomas, like you haven't called my brother worse."

"Well, that's because your brother has a permanent bed space at the Home for the Chronically Obnoxious! Anyway, as I was saying, they came looking for a broom for Scorpius."

At the name Scorpius, Rose's cheeks flushed and she quickly sank into her butterbeer, this too, did not go unnoticed by Blanca.

"Well, in complete Malfoy fashion, the senior Malfoy started off by insulting everything about the shop and about us!"

"What!" Albus gasped. Blanca told him about what had happened form the time they came in to the time her father kicked them out. "Stupid gits! They sure deserved the boot!" he hissed.

Just then, James came back from the counter and sat himself between Molly and Lucy. Molly, who had until then been in deep, hushed conversation with Lucy, glared at him for interrupting them, but James just merely shrugged. Blanca looked up and realised that he was now sitting directly opposite her, and her position in the corner, between Al and Rose was not one where she could easily get up and walk away.

"Hey! Where's Fred?" he asked, his words were slightly slurred and Blanca knew he was tipsy.

Fred had left a half hour ago; he had promised his father that he would be home to help him test some new merchandise.

"He left," Rose replied, "what happened to the girl you were with?"

"Ah, she left! Said she had curfew."

Blanca scoffed, which made James direct his gaze to her, Blanca noticed that his piercing, bottle green eyes had become greener, if that was possible. "Got something to say Thomas?"

"I'm so not in the mood, Potter."

"Can't you two ever keep from getting at each other?" Al asked.

"I can," James said, "I'll just need someone to talk to that's all," then he turned around and did something that Blanca had been praying all night wouldn't happen, "Oi! Lance! Come over here mate!"

Blanca looked scandalised. "Why don't you go over there instead?" she hissed.

"Because, there's three free chairs here and I don't want to move."

Blanca shut her eyes as Lance and Lexi walked towards their table. Blanca wasn't ready to face Lance just yet, and facing him and his new girlfriend, that he had cheated on her with, was not helping things.

"Hi _Casablanca_!" Lexi's sugar-coated voice was the first thing Blanca heard.

"What's up Lexi," she mumbled.

"Oh, nothing much, Lancie and I were just celebrating!"

"Celebrating _what?_"

"Oh, you didn't know? It's our three-week anniversary as an official couple."

"Congratulations," she said to Lance through gritted teeth. "Three weeks as an _'official couple'._"

Lance looked sheepish, "Hi B," he said.

James looked pretty proud of himself. He had managed to get Thomas all bothered without uttering a single word himself; he gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Blanca felt Al pull her closer to him, "Hi Lance, hello Lexi," she heard him say, she took a shaky sip of her butterbeer.

"So, Jordan, you and Lexi shagged yet?"

Blanca choked and spluttered everywhere.

"Are you okay?" Rose was looking concerned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good, just went down the wrong pipe that's all!"

James looked amused, "So, have you two shagged yet?" he continued.

"And why would that detail be so important?" Al asked, clearly looking annoyed. Even Lucy and Molly, who had managed to find themselves next to each other again, stopped their conversation and looked up.

"Just collecting stats, that's all," James replied innocently, "you see, a guy like me who doesn't have long-term girlfriends, rarely comes across a specimen like this," he motioned to Blanca, Lexi and Lance. "So, having Lance in the same room with his new girlfriend and his used girlfriend is very good for collecting important data to add to my relationship stats at Hogwarts. It helps me stay single."

Blanca gave James a puzzled look, how someone could make crap sound so intelligent and completely scientific was beyond her.

"So," he continued, "I know that he and Thomas here did not shag, which is why I need to know if they did. It's going to explain whether Lance here is a sex-less prudent gentleman or whether it's Thomas that's not really that special, sexually speaking."

Lexi passed what sounded like a snigger, Lance took to looking at his Firewhisky like it was the key to life's secrets, Rose looked at Blanca, as if ready to catch her if she fainted, Molly and Lucy were both open-mouthed, Al angrily glared at his brother and Blanca looked at James with wide eyes, something between a smile and a grimace was pasted on her lips.

James drummed on the table before leaning back and saying, "Well, there it is, got my answer! Now I can give almost full diagnosis on Lance's condition involving the opposite sex."

"What are you playing at James?" Al asked through gritted teeth.

"Well you see dear brother, one thing is clear about Lance here; he likes smart girls, Lexi is a Gryffindor, but she's one of the smartest in her year and Thomas, well she should be smart, I know Rose can't stand thick people! But again, you may ask yourself, if he fancies smart girls, why didn't he stay with Thomas over here? Or at least shag her? There are two possible answers to this question, one; Thomas could be an uptight little prude who won't let anyone past first base, or the more obvious one, number two; Lance loves huge knockers, which, unlike Thomas, Lexi seems to be blessed with. But again, what if Lance here doesn't care about boobs? Then what could it have been that suddenly made Thomas appalling and Lexi appealing? Could it have been that-"

"Okay! Okay! No one's enjoying your little diagnosis James! It's really childish if I may say so myself!" Rose cut him off.

"Hey! Al was interested, and I was simply elaborating. Anyway, I think if I were Lance, I'd still choose Lexi."

"Aw, thank you James," Lexi purred.

Blanca felt a huge lump forming at her throat, she expected the tears to come but surprisingly none of them came. She could vaguely feel Al's hand softly patting her back as she desperately searched for her father's eyes, trying to telepathically send him a message, which, obviously did not work. She needed to go home, she needed to go home bad.

"Hey, Casablanca," Lexi was saying, "I hope you don't really take what James said to heart. You know he was just messing around right?" her sugary drawl sounded like a million banshees to Blanca.

Blanca gave Lexi a small smile, '_Yes I fucking take it to heart you slimy, boyfriend-stealing little bitch! What the bloody hell do think I am going to do? Skip around rainbows and sing Kumbaya? Of course I feel nasty!'_ she wanted to yell, but instead, she looked up and said, "Of course not, I know he's only kidding."

"Little bint," Al muttered under his breath.

James was feeling mighty proud of himself, he turned to Lance and started talking about Quidditch. At least he got her angry, something he had not done in two months!

"So, Blanca, are you going to be coming to the Burrow any time before school starts?" Rose asked.

"You do know that school is this Sunday right?" Blanca asked.

"Well, it sort of is an invitation. Please B," she whispered the last bit, "I won't be able to take sharing a room with Dominique anymore!"

"But I thought she was in France?" Blanca said.

"They'll be back tomorrow...please!"

"I don't know...my dad kind of needs help at the store..." this was not completely untrue, but the main truth was Blanca wanted to stay away from James as much as possible.

There was another roar of laughter from the adults table and Blanca snapped her head up to see her dad. It looked like he was getting up, this was her golden opportunity. She quickly pushed her chair back and wriggled herself out of Albus' grasp.

She quickly waved goodbye to Lucy and Molly, (who had been kind enough to let Lexi in their conversation since the boys had gone into Quidditch mode) and made her way towards her father, followed closely by her two friends.

Blanca could catch the words 'Malfoy' and 'ferret' by the time she reached the table and her father instinctively put an arm around her. Looking at the clock behind the bar, Blanca realised that it was already half past midnight.

"Alright guys," Dean was saying, "it's been great! I sure had a lot of fun, but I think it's time my little Hufflepuff and I hit the road."

"Alright! Cheers mate!" Harry was saying as he got up to say goodbye to his friend, turning to Blanca, he said, "and I heard that you were appointed captain of your team. Congratulations!"

"Captain!" it was Albus who exclaimed, "that's great! Why didn't you say something?"

"I guess it slipped my mind," Blanca mumbled sheepishly, "Thanks Harry."

"Blanca honey," it was Hermione who spoke, "Rose has been chatting my ear off about how you need to come over! How would you like to spend the weekend at the Burrow?"

"Yeah!" Ginny chipped in, "Grandpa Weasley has actually been asking continuously about you! He says you're the only one who understands his love for Muggle things."

Blanca had been hoping no one would invite her to stay over, she looked up at her dad, he was beaming.

"Of course she would love to stay over! I've had her to myself all summer! I think she missed spending time with her mates." He said, contrary to the message she was trying to send him with her eyes.

"Excellent!" Harry said, "I'll pick her up first thing in the morning when I come to get the Firebolt checked out."

"Yay!" Rose squealed in Blanca's ear, "I guess you are coming after all!"

"Yay." Blanca said in a flat tone.

"Goodnight guys." Dean said once more as he helped his daughter into her cloak.

It was quiet and chilly outside, in contrast to the atmosphere in the Leaky Cauldron. Blanca pulled her cloak closer to herself and huddled closer to her father as they took the twenty-minute walk back home.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine in your own dad?" Blanca asked, hoping she could still change his mind, "I mean, new shipment just came in yesterday and you need all hands on deck right?"

Dean softly laughed, "My funny little Hufflepuff, we'll be okay just fine. Besides, Charlie, Leila, Matt and Rob are the best team I've ever worked with. We won't even notice we're a hand short. Besides, you still need to do your school shopping so either way, even if you stayed, it's not like you'd be around most of the time. Go have fun with your friends, I know you missed them." Then after some time, he said, "Hey, was that Lance Jordan at your table? Why was he with another girl?"

"Dad. We're not together anymore, remember? That was his new girlfriend, Lexi."

"He already has a new girlfriend?" Dean asked in shock. This took him back to his sixth year when Ginny broke up with him and started dating Harry practically a week later, it hurt real bad back then, so he imagined what his daughter must have been feeling.

Blanca just smiled up at him, "Its fine dad. I'm okay-really."

Dean pulled his daughter closer to him, "My funny little Hufflepuff," he silently muttered. Hating that Jordan kid for the pain he was putting his daughter through.

Blanca suddenly felt much better. 'My funny little Hufflepuff' had always been her father's nickname for her, she loved it. But nobody else was allowed to call her that, only he knew how to say it. It made her feel really special.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing in front of the shop, Blanca could see the 'The Broom Closet' glowing in gold above the door. Dean tapped his wand on the door, muttering things in a sing-song voice, a few moments later, he pushed the handle and the door swung open. As he was re-locking it, Blanca quickly rushed upstairs to make her father some hot chocolate before she went to bed. She found him in his study, taking some entries with a quill- something that was unusual as he always used a muggle pen, he looked tired, but he had that determined look on his face. "Here's some hot chocolate dad." Blanca whispered.

"Thanks honey," he said, "just set it on the table. It's been a long day, go get some sleep."

"Goodnight dad." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and went off to her room, she slumped down on her bed and imagined the colourful ways she could kill James Potter, surprisingly this time, she was not getting as much satisfaction from it as she usually did, so with a frustrated sigh, she turned on her side and drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

HOME SWEET home  BURROW

Blanca was woken up by the sun in her face and a tapping on her window. Groaning, she got out of her Harpie-green covers and opened the window for the owl to come in. She recognised it immediately as Flynn, the Weasley's owl. The owl softly nibbled at Blanca's hand as she untied the envelope from its leg, as soon as she was done, it gave a soft hoot and flew out into the busy street.

Blanca opened the envelope to read the letter, it was from Hermione. In her neat, tiny handwriting, the letter read:

"Good morning Blanca, hope you slept well. Harry will come over at 12:00hrs to have his broom checked, you will be picked up then. See you then dear, take care. Hermione x."

Blanca smiled at this, on the upside, she could spend the whole weekend with Rose! She hopped into the shower and went to the kitchen where she could smell the aroma of sausages and bacon.

"Goodmorning sleepy head," Dean said as he pushed a plate in front of her, "sleep well?"

Blanca nodded as she sipped her tea, "Hermione sent me a letter about fifteen minutes ago, she said Harry will be here in at noon...what's the time?"

Dean glanced at his watch, "its quarter past eleven," he responded. "Are you packed yet? I know how notorious you are for leaving things until the last minute!"

"Don't worry dad, my trunk is ready!"

"Splendid! I'll send it over later in the day together with your shopping money and your new broom."

"Okay...wait! I don't have a new broom."

"Well, you do now. Did you think I could let all those O. go unawarded? Wait here." He got up from his seat and went downstairs. A few moments later, he came up holding something wrapped in a black cloth. He let the cloth fall to the ground and allowed the broom to levitate.

It was the most beautiful thing Blanca had ever seen. The shaft was a rich golden-brown colour and it had a golden end that connected the tail to the shaft.

"It can't be." Blanca gasped. "Dad, this is the Firebolt Prodigy! There's only three of them in the whole world! How?"

"I have my ways," Dean chuckled, "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it! Oh thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!"

"You deserve it champ, by the way, have you taken a closer look at the shaft?"

Blanca studied the golden wood and saw what her father was talking about: right there, near the middle, engraved in calligraphy were the words 'Blanca. '.

"You didn't!" she gasped, looking from him to her personalised broom.

"It's hip right?"

"Dad," Blanca laughed, "Nobody says 'hip' anymore."

Dean smiled at his daughter. He loved to spoil her like this, at least she did not look as sad as she did yesterday. "I had it sent in early this morning while you were asleep."

"And you left out the 'Casa', thanks dad!" Blanca beamed at her father; it must have cost him an arm and a leg to pay for, but she knew he wouldn't admit it.

"Anytime mate! Now eat up quickly, Rob was beginning to think you died in your sleep."

When Blanca got downstairs, she found everyone attending to customers, the only person that was free was Matt. He was polishing some display windows.

"Morning Matt," Blanca said as she joined him.

"Hi B," Matt said without looking up from his work, "Nice shirt by the way."

"It's just a black T-shirt," Blanca replied.

"Yeah, I know," Matt said.

Blanca gave him a confused look before thanking him. He looked extra handsome today, he had his dark hair tied back in a ponytail, his misty blue eyes focused on the spot he was working on, his soft pink lips pursed in concentration, yes, Leila was one lucky girl cause this guy was a real looker, he almost looked like...almost looked like _James Potter._

No! She did not just think that, James Potter was not handsome, well at least not to Blanca! Blanca abruptly dropped her brush, causing a loud clang.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Nothing," Blanca quickly replied. She quickly got up and mumbled something about her room and bolted upstairs.

Once in her room, she slumped on her bed, face down and groaned into her pillow. She reached under her pillow for her wand to feel the smooth, polished wood. "Two more days...two more days till I can get to use you again," she mumbled as she clutched the studded handle.

"You know, speaking to yourself is one of the first symptoms of insanity," a voice made her spin around.

"Wha- Al!" Al dodged a pillow that came his way. "Don't you_ ever_ knock?"

"Sorry, your dad said you'd be in here," he laughed, he scanned the room, "I see you still have the Harpies held hostage in here."

"Shut up! What are you doing here? I thought your dad was coming alone."

"Nah. Mom said the boys do their school shopping today, you know what would happen if the whole circus decided to take on Diagon Alley at the same time."

Blanca shuddered at the thought. Putting her wand in her back jeans pocket, she followed Al downstairs. There, Harry was speaking to Dean, there was a broom that looked broken on a table between them. Blanca looked around but she could only see the unfamiliar faces of the people that had come in to buy their brooms and supplies.

"Where are the others?" she whispered to Al.

"They are still doing robe fittings at Madame Malkin's," Albus replied, he nodded towards their fathers, "how long do you think that will take?"

"Depends on how bad it is, if it's a hairline fracture, even a few minutes will do, but if it's more serious, it could take the whole night- what happened?"

"James." Al replied simply.

Blanca nodded in understanding, turning to Al, she said, "So, how's Maxime?"

Maxime Jaime was Albus' girlfriend, a Gryffindor a year below them. Blanca had spoken to her a few times, she was quite a sweet girl.

"She's great- I think," Al said uncertainly, "Well, the last time I spoke to her, she was in Brazil, and she sounded pretty happy in the letters I got from her."

"That's good," Blanca observed. She noticed that Albus was looking at something in the Brooms section, "something caught your interest?"

"Yeah," he seemed quite far away, "Yeah, I'll be back." And he walked towards the brooms.

Blanca walked over to where Harry was standing, her father had gone to the back room. "Hi Harry."

"Oh, good morning Blanca, how are you today?" he beamed.

Blanca gave a smile-grimace, it was weird how grownups had to be so overly formal sometimes, "I'm good." she replied, peering over his shoulder to get a look at the broom, she asked, "so, what's wrong with it?"

"The neck's broken, but, luckily, your father says he has something that can heal her in a few minutes."

"No." She said once she had taken a closer look at the broom.

"But he told me it won't take long, what's wrong?" Harry asked, also peering over to look at his broom.

"No, no! I didn't mean it like that!" Blanca quickly corrected, "This is the...this is the Firebolt! Like the original Firebolt itself! There's only one in the world, and it's this one! I know that they discontinued the line shortly after it was released and only one broom survived... I had no clue it was this one!" she gasped, "This is so awesome."

Harry gave her a puzzled look, she was one funny girl sometimes, she always found even the simplest of things to be special.

"She must be really special eh?" she asked.

Before he could respond, the bell rang and in walked James. Blanca suppressed a groan as he walked towards them, it was bad enough that she couldn't stand him, now she was beginning to think he was attractive. James gave Blanca a once over before turning to his father.

"You done?" Harry asked. James grunted something like a yes. Harry said, "Good, you can take Blanca to the Burrow." Blanca choked on her own spit; James looked at his father like he had just grown an extra head. Harry just shrugged and said, "well, you're a Seventh year, you are allowed to use magic, side-along apparition will be good for your practice."

"_Practice?_"Blanca gasped.

"Don't worry Blanca," Harry replied, "You're just the right size, even if James tried, you wouldn't be splinched...unless he wanted to."

"That's what I'm worried about," Blanca said in a small voice.

"Don't worry," Harry gave his son a pointed look, "he won't."

"Fine. Let me just say goodbye to my dad." She said, then under her breath, so no one could hear her, she added, "it just might be the last time I get to see him."

Blanca quickly found her way to the Store room, where her father was rummaging through boxes.

"You could just wave your wand," Blanca suggested.

"Thestral-skin oil does not respond to magic," he replied.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, just came to say I'm leaving now."

Dean turned around, "But I'm about to heal the broom, I thought Harry wanted to wait," Dean said, looking confused.

"He is, I'm going with James Potter," Blanca mumbled.

Dean's face looked comical, "Are you sure you two will make it in one piece?"

"Pray for me." Blanca whispered as she gave her father a hug, "See you at Christmas."

"Goodbye sweetheart, good luck with school...and everything else." She turned to leave when he said, "Wait! There is something I wanted to tell you...about Christmas."

Blanca turned on her heel, "What? You won't make it again this year?" She said, betrayal and disappointment tinted in her voice.

"No, no! I'll be there this time, I promise," he said hastily, "It's just that...never mind!" he gave her a bright smile.

"What dad?"

"Just make sure you don't get into trouble this year," he said.

Blanca nodded, she knew that was not what he wanted to say initially but she decided it was wiser not to press because the more you pushed Dean, then more he would shut you out, she gave him a quick kiss and ran out of the storage room to meet James.

"See you soon," Harry said as she walked out. "I hope," he said below his breath.

She found James waiting for her in the Alley behind the shop. "Done with your goodbyes?" he asked sarcastically.

"Shut up Potter, just get us to the Burrow."

He walked over to Blanca and snaked an arm around her waist, Blanca jumped away like she had just been burned.

"What?" James asked.

"I've done side-along apparition before, and if my memory serves me right, holding hands works just perfectly." She snapped.

"That's because the people you've apparated with have probably done it millions of times before, I'm still new to this thing."

"Oh, that's comforting," Blanca said sarcastically.

"Look, Thomas, unless you want to get splinched big time, which I'd be glad to help you with, shut your gob and let me do what I'm most comfortable with."

"Fondling girls' bodies?" it was not a question.

"Trust me Thomas, when I say this, your body is the last I'd want to touch, let alone fondle. So, are you coming or not?"

Blanca was ready to whip out her wand and curse him right there, but seeing as she did not want to get expelled and thrown into Azkaban, she instead took a deep breath and begrudgingly let him take her by the waist. In an instant, they turned on the spot and Blanca got that familiar tugging in the pit of her stomach.

James had lied: ever since the previous night at the Leaky Cauldron, all he could think of was what he would do with Blanca's body. She had grown so much over the summer- too much, actually, for James to take in and process properly, and the shorts and tank top that she wore that night only made it harder to ignore. Her rich, dark hair, which she usually kept in a 70's afro style, was now straightened and cut right at the collar-bone, and even though James preferred long hair, this was just too sexy! She had grown into her face, her buck teeth had taken shape and her previously freakishly large eyes had taken on a smouldering quality.

Now, here she was, all alone in an alley with him, accusing him of only being comfortable with fondling girls' bodies, which was true, because the only thing James loved more than girls was Quidditch. He was ready to take her on right there, push her against a wall and ravish every inch of her, but instead, he turned and said, "Trust me Thomas, when I say this, your body is the last I'd want to touch, let alone fondle."

Straight lie, but he was not going to let her see this. She was teasing him and had no clue of it at all, this made him hate her even more.

They apparated just a few meters away from the Burrow, he could see the tall, lopsided building as they appeared. James quickly let go of her waist and hurriedly walked ahead of her. He dodged the chickens that were in his way and practically ran into the house.

Blanca could hear Nanny Weasley's voice as she approached the kitchen door, "Where is she James? Harry sent me a patronus saying you two would be together...oh my! You didn't kill her did you?"

"Relax nan," James said in an exasperated voice, "she just lagged behind," Blanca opened the door, "there she is." And he disappeared up the stairs.

Blanca hardly said anything before she was attacked by Mrs. Weasley's bear hug. "Oh, my baby!" she yelled, "How was your summer?" she did not even wait for Blanca to respond before looking her up and down and saying, "You and Rosie have just turned into beautiful young women! But my! What happened? You have lost weight! You are just too thin! Have you not been eating? Whatever is wrong with you teenagers these days, always losing weight and going on ridiculous diets...wait here, I'll fix you something to eat," and she walked away, mumbling something about the skinny models in the Witch Weekly influencing young girls these days.

Before Blanca could respond, she was attacked by another hug, this one was from Rose. "You're finally here! I thought I was going to die, Dom's chatting my ear off about this boy she met in Nice or something..." she made a gagging noise.

"That's not very nice Rosie," Mrs. Weasley said as waved her wand over a few pots and pans, instantly, they started to warm the food. "Now come sit down the both of you and have some proper lunch, it just might add some flesh to your little bones."

Blanca turned to Rose and mouthed, "Skinny? Us?"

Rose giggled, obviously Nanny Weasley did not know what skinny meant, she leant closer to Blanca and whispered, "Just let her come to Hogwarts."

Blanca shook her head, "She just might take over the kitchen and stand behind everyone's shoulder until the tables are empty!" she half-whispered, half-giggled back.

"I can hear you," Mrs Weasley said in a sing song voice, "And if you don't come to the table this instant..." she left the threat hanging in the air for the girls' imagination to fill.

The two obligingly went and sat down at the table, Merlin knows what would happen if anyone disputed Molly Prewett-Weasley. "Where's everybody else?" Blanca asked, "I know the boys had their thing today but...?"

"All the moms went to Shell cottage," Rose replied, "Aunt Fleur is throwing a tea party, it's a 'Welcome back' thingy of some sort."

"Quite conceited if you ask me," Mrs. Weasley muttered to herself. The girls giggled but said nothing to comment, everybody knew her love-hate relationship with Fleur.

"Well," Rose continued, "Lily is spending the night at Sarah's, Roxy is with her boyfriend somewhere in Hogsmeade, Luce and Molls are upstairs and Dom is in our room. Plus, all the dads are at work, well except for Uncle Harry who took the boys out."

"Well, your cousin Roxanne really needs to settle down, she's nearly twenty three! And why doesn't she let us meet her boyfriend?" Mrs. Weasley said as she pushed two plates laden with mashed potato and gravy in front of them, turning round to get the chicken, she continued, "Well at least Victoire is finally engaged to Teddy Lupin now! I wonder what they had been waiting for all these years..." she sighed as she looked into space. Then, suddenly, her face brightened as she turned to Blanca and beamed, "Well, at least with you, I have nothing to worry about, you and Albus are just perfect for each other! If only Rosie here could find someone of her own..."

Blanca choked on her mashed potato, Rose, in an attempt to relieve her, accidentally knocked over her plate of mash which went to land flat on Mrs. Weasley's head.

"Scourgify," Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at her head, and pointing it at Blanca, she said, "Anapneo." And immediately, Blanca's airway cleared.

"Al and I," she gasped, "Al and I are just friends...just friends Gran," she managed.

Mrs. Weasley gave her a funny look, then she shrugged, "Well, you had me fooled, you should see the way he looks at you sometimes, but...anyway, if you say so dear. What about you Rose, anyone special, yet?"

Rose turned a brilliant shade of red and immediately started stuffing her face with chicken. Mrs. Weasley did not notice this as she turned around and started to charm the dishes to wash themselves, "I hope you find someone soon love, Arthur and I fell in love at Hogwarts, your parents did the same, though they were too stubborn to see it in the beginning, you know, the quicker you find someone special the better it is. That way, you have enough time to get to know each other..." she continued to mumble some things about why divorce rates these days were high was because the couples did not have time to know each other, and talked of broken homes. Blanca marvelled at the woman that was walking around the kitchen, waving her wand at this and that, and talking nonstop about goodness knew what. She reminded her of her own grandmother, Grandma Thomas, the only difference was that Gran Thomas was a muggle.

Mrs. Weasley's face suddenly darkened as she turned to face the girls, "...though Brenda from knitting club said she thought she saw you with that Malfoy boy Rosie, but I dismissed her idle gossip! I know you're smarter than that!" she turned around again before she saw Rose turn an even deeper shade of red. But Blanca did, and she quickly got up from her seat and hastily excused herself from the table as she dragged Rose with her. Once in their room, Rose collapsed on her bed and drew a deep breath.

"You have some explaining to do young lady," Blanca said in a mock Mrs. Weasley's voice.

"Later." Rose replied, "I honestly don't know what I have gotten myself into."

"Who's gotten themselves in a pickle?" Dom asked in a sing-song voice, Blanca closed her eyes, she had forgotten that Dom was in the room. Dominique Weasley could be quite sweet, but she was not the easiest person to live with; her Primadonna antics were enough to make somebody's skin crawl.

Blanca turned around and smiled, "Hi Dom!"

"Hello Blanca, I like your hair, it's very...um very..._nice_!"

"Thankyou Dom," Blanca said honestly.

Rose looked at her cousin in shock, Dominique Weasley rarely passed out compliments like that, there was always something she had to critique.

"Yeah, it's very cute, but boys like longer hair you know, at least that's what the stat in the Witch Weekly currently says," Dom said.

"And we're back," Rose mumbled.

"Anyway," she flipped her long blonde hair, "how was your summer? Travelled with your dad I bet? Or maybe not so much? Mine was wonderful, I met this really super cute boy, Jean-Luc is his name and...oh my! Blanca I'm so sorry!" Blanca was clearly shocked by the sudden change of topic, and the even more shocking thing was that she looked really sorry.

"Huh?" Rose, who was also shocked, asked.

"I mean...about what I said about boys and hair and stuff! Especially after what happened between you and Lance, and my bringing up Jean-Luc wasn't much help either...oh do forgive me. I didn't mean it like that!"

Blanca raised an eyebrow at Rose, who shook her head. Dom spoke up, "Marsha owled me, she said she heard from Rhiannon who had been told by Carrie that Lance had dumped you over the summer. I'm so sorry."

It all started to make sense, Carrie was Lexi's younger sister and Marsha and Rhiannon were some of the Fifth Years that adored Dominique, and even though she was a good two years above them, they always found a way to follow her around and tell her everything, and when it came to Hogwarts gossip, these girls knew everything. At first, Dom was irritated by their following her around, but as time went by, she realised that she could put their skills to her advantage and so they became her little posse.

"Oh," Blanca's voice was thick, "so she said he _dumped_ me?"

"Uh-huh, she didn't mention why, but she said he's now with Lexi Prince."

Blanca looked mortified, if Dom, who was in the South of France, already knew this version of the story, how many other people knew?

Rose scoffed, "So you were told that Blanca was _dumped_?"

"Well yeah."

"That's so-"

"True," Blanca chipped in. She had enough drama for the day. Rose glanced at her friend, who looked like she had just kissed a Dementor.

"D'you want to go to the treehouse?" she asked. Blanca nodded and followed her friend downstairs.

Blanca could smell roast beef cooking once downstairs. "She's trying to fatten us up before we go to Hogwarts," Rose whispered, which made Blanca giggle.

"Hey girls, where off to?" Mrs. Weasley asked, not taking her head out of her cookbook.

"Treehouse," Rose yelled as they got out into the yard. They trekked round the house to the back yard which was full of peach trees. There was a small clearing where a small Quidditch pitch stood and further ahead was the treehouse, it sat on a high branch in a large oak tree.

"Here we are," Rose said as they got on top, "the coven of our deepest darkest secrets." She added in a dramatic voice.

Blanca nodded. "Yep, here it is."

"So, do you want to talk about what happened? You know, between you and Lance?" Rose asked hesitantly.

Blanca sighed and begun from the beginning.

It was a Friday, early August when Blanca and her father had returned from their trip to Prague. There had been a vintage broom convention and Dean had been invited to be an expert consultant.

"I guess we're back pal," Dean said as he drew the curtains in their home.  
"Yeah, it was fun while it lasted." Blanca smiled dreamily.

"So, what's your plan for today? Do you want to owl Rose and Mel, or do you want to come to Cork with me to see Seamus, or, do you want to kick back and rest?"

"I think I'll just rest a bit today. The sun is still out, if there is some daylight left, I might go out, but don't worry, I'll be back before nightfall."

"All right," he gave her a pat on the head, "have fun champ." And with that, he left for Cork.

Blanca wandered around the little apartment, she went down to the shop, which was closed for the day, and studied every broom that was on display. She went up to her room to try and sleep but to no avail, Blanca glanced at her clock by her bedside table, it was nearly 14:00hrs. Right next to the clock stood four picture frames, one had her and her father standing at King's Cross the first time she was going to Hogwarts, the other was taken about a year before her mother had passed away, it was of her smiling parents holding her between them. The third was taken during her third year, it was of her, Rose and Melanie standing in front of the Hogwarts castle and finally, the fourth, was of her boyfriend Lance, his deep chocolatey eyes seemed to go on forever, Blanca smiled as she looked at his smiling face that kept winking at her.

Getting up from her bed, she decided to pay him a visit; she went to her wardrobe and pulled out a short, bright-blue strapless baby-doll dress, one that she had never worn before- Blanca was not really a dress girl. She walked over to her mirror and studied her reflection, the blue matched her complexion perfectly and her new hair cut gave her a new edge. Satisfied, she found a pair of ballet flats, and getting some Muggle money that she kept in a drawer, she went downstairs and left through the back door, which Dean charmed to only let him, his daughter and the four assistants in. Once she was out of Diagon Alley, Blanca wove her way through muggle London and hailed a taxi. She gave him the address and calmly waited for him to weave his way through the busy streets.

Lance lived in suburban London with his parents, his father, Lee Jordan, was a world famous Quidditch announcer who had his own radio station in the wizarding world, while his mother, Alicia Spinnet, worked in the muggle world as a judge on a popular talent show. So, due to Alicia's muggle fame, they had to settle in muggle London act like muggles for the most time. The taxi stopped right in front of the gates.

"Fancy place yeah?" the driver observed, nodding towards the house, "That will be 12 quid doll," he said. Blanca fished out the money from her purse and gave it to him. Hastily coming out of the car, she straightened her dress and drew in a deep breath, this was a surprise visit and Blanca wanted it to be perfect. She pushed the gate open and timidly walked the driveway to the Jordan's front door. She rang the bell and it was answered by the housekeeper who let her in. Blanca made her way to the kitchen and found Alicia taking a tray of cookies out of the oven.

"Blanca!" she exclaimed, pulling her into a hug, "how are you? How was Prague? Lance didn't say you were coming over, I would have prepared something more special for you-"

"Oh no, thanks anyway! I'm great, Prague was lovely. Actually, I decided only twenty minutes ago that I was going to come over- I hope you don't mind though."

"Oh, no no sweetie! You're welcome here anytime! By the way, you look good."

"Thankyou."

"Lance is at his place, you know where to find him," she smiled.

Lance lived in the pool house behind the house, it had been his idea that he learned to live on his own by the time he was in Fourth year, but everybody knew that he just wanted a place that his mother wouldn't visit every day to come and redecorate. Blanca skipped on the cobble-stoned path that led to the pool house and stopped at the door. There was music playing inside so Blanca knew that there was no point in knocking, so taking a deep breath and plastering a smile on her face, she swung the door open.

Blanca froze on the spot, she wished she hadn't opened the door, she wished she hadn't taken that cab, she wished she hadn't seen his picture in her room, she wished she hadn't returned from Prague, she wished she hadn't been locked in a storage cabinet with Lance for an hour back in March, she wished she hadn't been born!

There, on his bed, Lance had Lexi straddling him, topless, they were tangled in his sheets and she had her tongue in his mouth, his tongue in her mouth, Blanca didn't know who's was in who's. Blanca heard a faraway scream; it couldn't have been hers because she had never felt herself open her mouth.

Lance jumped like he had been burned, Lexi screamed and covered herself up. Blanca's eyes were wide open, she was frozen to the spot, her hand still stuck on the handle.

"_Blanca!_" Lance looked like he had seen a ghost.

"How," she croaked. She glanced behind him, where Lexi stood, the smug grin on her face swiftly turned the shock to anger. "Lexi Prince! Really Lance?"

Lance walked over to Blanca, cupped her face in his hands and said in a tone that only she could hear, "B, baby, I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I honestly don't know what came over me, she...she means nothing to me! It's you I love!"

Blanca's voice was shriller than she thought it would sound, "Do you think I'm stupid! I know what I saw Jordan!"

"But B!"

"Don't call me that," her tone was dangerously low, "goodbye Lance," she croaked out the last part. She peered over his shoulder once more, and Lexi had a small smile on her face.

Blanca ran past the little path and burst into the kitchen. This caused Alicia, who had been sipping her tea to jump, "Blanca, dear, what's going on?" she asked, eyes full of concern.

Blanca only just realised that tears had actually been streaming down her face all this while, "It's not important," whimpered, "I need to go." And before Alicia could stop her, she ran out of the kitchen, out of the house and out into the street where, luckily for her, a taxi had just been from dropping someone off, she quickly stopped it and got in.

Once back home, Blanca rushed up the stairs and shut herself in her room, lucky for her-again, her father was not back yet so she wailed her heart out. It took her a few days to recover from the shock of the breakup, but in the end, she managed to overcome the initial shock.

"What an arse!" Rose said when Blanca was done telling her.

"And then someone, obviously Lexi, has been telling everyone I was the one who was dumped! Like I didn't find them on third base!" Blanca wailed.

"The little skank!" Rose hissed.

"Yeah, and then he showed up at the Leaky C yesterday and then your blasted cousin invited them over and then-"

"I know," Rose said sympathetically, "James is quite the douche if I may say so myself!" she added in a mock-pompous voice.

Blanca laughed, "So true. I don't want to imagine how my first days back will be," she sighed.

"Yeah. But as for now, we are safe up here, away from James, away from Lance and his trollop Lexi, right now, it's just you, me and this tree mate!"

Blanca laughed, "I'd so die if I found out this place was bugged."

"Me too!" Rose said "I can't believe nan thought you and Al..."

"Yeah!" Blanca laughed, "ridiculous huh?"

"Although you two did kiss at the Yule ball back in fourth year!" Rose said with a mischievous grin.

"I thought we swore never to speak of it! We both had never kissed anyone before, so we just did it to do it you know!" Blanca gasped, "Besides, he already has a girlfriend; I thought that she would have known by now! Seeing as there are no secrets in your family! And speaking of secrets, I think someone is keeping something." She gave Rose a pointed look.

Rose turned red once more and whispered, "Blanca, I have done something really outrageous."

"What is it?" Blanca leaned closer, "is it bad? Is it a boy?" then remembering the events of the previous night, and at lunch time, she whispered, "does it have to do with Malfoy?"

Rose looked down and started to pick imaginary lint from her jersey, Blanca gasped, "Oh my God! Rose, you _like _him? You like Malfoy!" she yelled.

"Shhhhhhh! You're on anti Malfoy territory remember?" then she sighed dreamily, "I wish it was that easy...Blanca, _I'm seeing Scorpius Malfoy!_" she whispered.

"Rose Weasley! Are you out of your bloody mind? You know that Malfoy Is bad news...what about your parents! Rose, what about your_ father! _Do you want to die? What! How did it happen?"

"Well," Rose took a deep breath, "we once found each other in a muggle bookstore in Belfast, I know, why so far away? But sometimes this family can get a little smothersome. So, knowing that I had discovered his secret love for muggle literature, he made me swear to never tell anyone- well, I'm telling you right now, but you're my best friend so it doesn't count right? Anyway, we started bumping into each other more and more often and eventually, we decided to start a two people book club- "

"You and him being members."

"Yes. From there, we discovered we had so much more in common and one thing led to another and until one day, he kissed me."

Blanca gasped. "How good was it? On a scale of 1 to 10?"

"Eleven!" Rose squealed, "Anyway, I kissed him back and well...the secret visits continued and we'd read a little, snog a little..." she giggled.

"Oh bloody Merlin!" Blanca gasped, "But on a serious note, what if you get caught? Your father will murder Scorpius!"

"I honestly don't care Blanca, I like him so much that I think," she shifted from the position in which she lay, "I think I might be falling in love with him."

"People don't fall in love within two months!" Blanca scoffed.

Rose simply looked at her friend with her dreamy blue eyes, "Oh, B, love is a funny thing, you never know when it gets you!" she sighed, "yeah, love does crazy things to people."

"But you really need to be careful Rose, you know that this is Scorpius Malfoy the Slytherin Sex god we are talking about! The only person more notorious than him happens to be your cousin! What if, oh God! Have you two..." she raised her eyebrows and nodded at her friend.

"What! No, we haven't done it yet! But I plan to lose my V-card to him this term."

Blanca had her eyebrows raised, "Wow, law-abiding Rosie breaking the rules and taking a chance at forbidden love. Heavy stuff. "

"Imagine that..." Rose was on cloud nine, "so, what do you think about us? You know, Scorpius and I being together?"

"It's shit," Blanca replied honestly, "but as long as you promise me these things, be careful, learn a good contraceptive spell and when you sense something wrong in your relationship, run! Promise me these things."

"I promise," Rose whispered.

"Then if you're happy, I'm happy too!"

At this, Rose beamed, "I love you B!" and attacked her with a Weasley bear hug.

"Okay! Okay! Enough already," Blanca laughed, "I'm starting to think you and Mel have switched brains. Which, judging by the decisions you've made recently, may not be so difficult to believe."

Rose shyly let go. They went to the furthest end of the treehouse and watched the sun set behind the peach trees, it was a lovely sight, but it also reminded Blanca that the day was over, and only one more remained before she could brave the gossip. She silently prayed that there was even bigger gossip when she got there so that everyone could forget about her and Lance.

"I'm hungry, let's go get some supper," Rose suggested.

"Alright."

"I think we could even bring some blankets up here, yes! That's a brilliant idea, that way, we can spend the night here and not hear Dom speak about her Jean-Paul or whoever he is!"

Blanca smiled as she followed her friend down the ladder.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

JADED JAMES

(A/N: Warning: This chapter contains scenes of a sexual nature.)

James woke up with a start, glancing at his watch, it nearly 01:00hrs, he flung his feet out of his bed and yelped slightly when his feet came in contact with the cold floor. Not bothering to wear a T-shirt, he slowly made his way down the crooked stairs into the kitchen, it was hot and his throat was parched. It was deathly quiet in the house, the only light that poured into the house was from the moon outside. The sound of a cupboard door being shut made James jump for his wand, cursing, he realised that he had left it under his pillow. He said in a hushed tone, "Who's there?"

A gasp and on 'Ow!' came from somewhere near the sink, someone emerged from under there and the light from outside showed that it was Blanca.

"Merlin, Potter, you gave me a fright!" she said, not taking her eyes off her stubbed toe. James could not help but ogle at the sight that was before him, in the incandescent light of the moon, Blanca looked a beauty. Her hair had slightly curled up due to the humidity and it gave her that frazzled bedroom look, she was wearing only a T-shirt that reached only to her mid-thigh and her angry pout which he had seen a million times before, looked very attractive today.

"Uh, Potter, your mouth is hanging," she said, "You might want to close it."

"Shut it Thomas," James said roughly, "Anyway, move. I came to get some water."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll have to move you then."

"I dare you."

In an instant, James had his arms around her waist and he heaved her up in the air, Blanca was kicking and thrashing, commanding him to put her down in a hushed tone.

"Shut up!" he whispered.

"How dare you invade my personal space like that! Have you no respect for-"

Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers. She responded with such a force that James was taken aback, her tongue was prodded at his lip and he let her in, briefly allowing her to explore his mouth before taking dominance. Her hands were tightly wrapped around his neck, she was tip-toeing so she could be level with him, his hands left her waist and found their way to her bum and squeezed lightly. A small moan escaped her lips as he lifted her up and let her wrap her legs around his waist, he walked over to the kitchen counter, set her there and continued to kiss and touch every part of her body he could reach.

James was beginning to slide her T-shirt off when he woke up with a start- this time for real.

"Shit!" James swore as he ran a hand through his messy hair, his entire body was soaked in sweat, he looked over to Fred who was snoring soundly.

"Stupid cow, that Thomas girl," he muttered as he lay back on his bed. Why was she doing this to him? Blanca Thomas was not the kind of girl he would fancy for himself, actually, she was on the other end of his Girl-0-Meter, on the end where he had the girls he would only shag if he were really desperate, and James was never desperate.

James' kind of girl was tall, 5ft6 was the shortest he would ever go for: Blanca was a mere 5ft1, James loved long hair: Blanca kept her hair short, James was a sucker for blondes: Blanca would look ridiculous with blonde hair, James liked skinny girls, the model type: Blanca was slightly plump and had defined curves, James loved boobs, the smallest he would go for was a C-cup: Blanca was sure to be a B-cup, James loved long legs: with Blanca's height of 5ft1, that was not something she would have. The list could go on for ages, James had at least a million and one reasons why he couldn't be attracted to Blanca, and that was only in the physical category alone. Personality wise, James could go on for days why he couldn't be attracted to her, fine, she was smart and could be funny sometimes, but that was overridden by all other aspects.

James let out a frustrated grunt, "it's just sexual frustration," he said to himself, trying to dismiss his thoughts. He needed release, glancing at his watch, it was 02:38hrs, the dead of the night. James was cracking, it had been nearly a month since he had felt a girl against him, this was causing him problems as he now started to dream of that Thomas girl. Stuff like that did not happen not happen to James Potter, he did not dream of girls that he hated with all his guts. No, he needed release, now!

Picking up a T-shirt and a pair of jeans from the floor, James got his wand and snuck out of the house, bloody hell! He was 17, he could go wherever the bloody hell he wanted to go. Turning on the spot, he apparated to Diagon Alley.

During these hours, only hags, drunks and a few crazy wizards walked the streets, there were very few ordinary looking people.

"Hey big boy," a voice seductively purred in his ear, "They say the dead of the night belongs to the poets and the mad men, which one are you?"

James spun to see the person the voice belonged to, she was a dishwasher blonde, her dark roots clearly visible, there was a large wart on her chin and had what looked like three teeth in her mouth which smelled heavily of Firewhisky. James decided he was not desperate enough for that and quickly walked away, clutching his wand tighter. He thought about what his mother would do if she knew he was out here, worse off, his grandmother. Shuddering, he shook the thought off as he quickened his pace to get into a pub he knew only too well. Hoping he would find something human that legs and wore a skirt, James pushed the double doors open and made his way in.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

A WEASLEY WEEKEND

Blanca woke up that morning with a stiff neck, "Remind me to never ever listen to you when you suggest us sleeping up here," she mumbled as Rose turned around with a groan.

"Whutimisit?" she asked.

Blanca squinted her eyes at her watch, "it's nearly seven."

"Then what the hell are we doing awake? There's about three more hours of sleep!"

"Yeah, three more hours I'm not spending in here!" Blanca said as she got up from the floor to stretch. Before Rose could say anything, there was a large 'CRACK!' in the treehouse and right in front of them, James appeared. He looked like he had been run over by two buses and a train! There were red rims around his eyes and Blanca could see morning stubble streaked all over his chin, his piercing green eyes looked tired there seemed to be stains from various origins streaked all over his dark jeans.

"What are you two doing here?" he croaked.

"What. Happened?" Rose managed to choke out after she recovered from the initial shock.

"Donask" came the reply.

"Well, Nan is going to flip when she finds out you snuck out, and then, she's going to tell your mom, and Merlin, you do not want to know what-"

"I already thought that one through," James replied, then suddenly, his green eyes lit up with mischief that they did not have a few seconds ago, "and that's why you're gonna help me."

Blanca scoffed, "And just why would we want to help you?"

"Hmmmmmmmmm...oh, I don't know, let's see, 'Oh, good morning Uncle Ron, I hope your morning isn't too bad cause it's about to get worse. You see, I'm about to hand my post as family degenerate to dear Rosie here, she's been sneaking around and frolicking with none other than Scorpius Malfoy all summer! '" he said with a smile, "Now what were you saying about helping me again?"

Rose blanched, "How did you know?"

"None of your business dear cousin, but if you don't help me out, I promise to spill."

"You wouldn't." Rose whispered.

James simply raised an eyebrow, Rose scrambled from her seating position and started climbing her way down the ladder, Blanca could hear her swearing with each step she took.

"Okay, Potter, how did you find out?"

"Again. It's none of your bloody business. Now quickly tell me a cleaning spell."

"Avada Kedavra." She replied coldly.

"Ha-ha. I would love to use that one on you."

Blanca huffed, "Try Scourgify Maxima. You'll need that one in your state."

Blanca turned round so as to give him some privacy as he cleaned himself. "Again," she hissed, "What the hell are you playing at? How did you know?"

"Alright Thomas, just what makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Because if you don't, I'm telling that you had Olivia Shacklebolt take an abortion."

"You'll what?"

"I was there in the Hospital Wing, when she was crying to herself. Only three people in the world know; you, me and her."

"So what? Everybody knows my reputation." James said, but Blanca could tell there was an uncertainty in his voice.

"James Potter, I think we both know that Olivia happens to be the Minister's granddaughter, and I think we both know she's very close to his heart. Now, if I heard her right, her abortion- the abortion you told her to take- went horribly wrong, and now she'll never have kids again. Wait till the Witch Weekly gets a load of it," she was taking him for a ride and she was loving every second of it, even if she couldn't see his face because her back was still turned to him.

"You wouldn't, I know you Thomas, you're an insensitive little bint but I know you wouldn't go that far," he whispered.

"I know I wouldn't, but I know a whole horde of girls that would...let's see, I think Rhiannon Giggs would love some hot juicy gossip like that! Or what about that girl, the one you dumped last term, Deena Fisher, yeah, I heard she's really out for your blood, or what-"

"Okay! Okay, what do you want?" James hissed in a hurried tone.

"First, you will promise not to blackmail Rose any more, and you will leave her and Scorpius alone alright."

James snorted, "What if I just wipe out your memory, or just have a little accident happen to you?"

Blanca ignored his threat, "Secondly, you will tell me who told you and how many people know."

"Nobody else knows." James said. He had his shirt off and was cleaning it, he proceeded to take his trousers off.

"Well how did you find out, I know for sure that you're not a seer."

"Yeah yeah they were careful alright, but anyone can walk into a bookshop you know."

"Eh?" Blanca asked, sounding confused.

"Hufflepuff!" James huffed, "I was in the bookstore, I am the one that saw them!"

Blanca turned to look at James like he had just declared to become a priest and take the vow of chastity.

"You. Went. Into. A. _Bookshop_? In _Belfast?_"

James looked offended, "Yeah! I can read you know! Besides," he continued, "The muggle girl that works there is super fit!"

Blanca breathed out, "Oh, understandable." Then throwing him a threatening look, she walked up to him, poking him in the chest with every word, "But you listen Potter, and listen close. Like I said before, leave the two alone, you will not do anything to sabotage their relationship. If you do, I swear I will glue your nuts to the ceiling."

James looked scared at first, but his lip curled into a smug smile when he saw her expression as she realised that she was face to face with his bare chest. Blanca had only just noticed that James was topless when her finger came in contact with his warm skin. My, she thought, his muscles are really firm and ripped. Realising that she had been caught looking, Blanca abruptly dropped her arm and fought for where to look.

"Like what you see Thomas?" he asked. She looked up at him and saw him smiling smugly down at her. She wanted so badly to smack that smug look off his face ... or maybe kiss it off.

Shut up Blanca! She told herself, you're not thinking straight, you just broke up with Lance, so obviously you're on the rebound!

As if it had a mind of its own, her hand shot up to touch James' face, James reached up for her hand, and ran a thumb over her fingers. He lowered his head and she raised hers until their nosed were touching. Then suddenly, before their lips could touch, Blanca dropped her head.

"In your dreams Potter," she muttered, and she turned to open the hatch door and disappeared under it.

James drew in a deep breath, how could he have honestly thought she was going to kiss him? He hastily threw his T-shirt on and waited for Rose to come up and announce if the coast was clear.

Back down, Blanca found Rose feeding the chickens, her face still had a sick pallor about it.

"What's good," Blanca said. Rose just grunted. "Don't worry, nobody else knows, where's Gran?"

"In the kitchen, wait, how did you...?"

"I have my ways," Blanca replied and she walked past her friend into the kitchen.

There were only two people in the kitchen, Grandma and Grandpa Weasley. He was reading the Daily Prophet and she was putting a pile of sausages on a plate, she looked up to see who had walked in, "Goodmorning Love, how was your night?"

"It was alright. Goodmorning Grandpa Weasley?"

Arthur Weasley looked up from his paper and lit up when he saw Blanca, "Why who is that? Is that my favourite non-granddaughter?"

"I guess it is!" she said as she went to hug him.

"How come I didn't see you yesterday?"

"They decided to sleep in the tree," Mrs. Weasley replied, "Now, sit down dear, have some breakfast."

"Let me just call Rose..."

"Oh, she ate already! Only had one rasher of bacon that one, can you believe it? Said she wasn't hungry, an oddity isn't it?" Mrs. Weasley said, mostly to herself.

"So, Blanca dear, come sit next to me, we have a lot to talk about!" Mr. Weasley beckoned her to sit next to him.

"Now Arthur, don't start bothering her with your muggle contraption questions!" Mrs. Weasley warned.

Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes at his wife's back, leaning closer to Blanca, he whispered, "What about this _enter-net_ that has been around for a while eh?"

Blanca bit into her sausage, thinking about how she was going to explain the dynamics of the internet to Mr. Weasley, she opened her mouth in the first attempt to elaborate when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny came down the stairs, all still in their night gowns.

"Goodmorning," Mrs. Weasley said as she put forward a plate laden with eggs, "I see you all made it back home yesterday!"

The men mumbled something about work, "...raid was tougher than most ...files that went through the roof..." were some of the things Blanca could get.

They all mumbled their 'goodmornings' and sat at the table. "Fleur decided to turn tea into a full blown heavy duty dinner," Ginny said as she sipped a cup of coffee.

"Yep, and before we knew it, one thing led to another and the wedding came up and-"

"You lost track of time, yes, I know my Fleur!" Mrs. Weasley said, "Always the party planner. By the way, what time are you taking the girls for their school shopping? "

"We should be in Diagon Alley by Ten O'clock," Hermione said, "...or on second thought, whenever the kids decide to wake up."

The rest grunted in agreement, and they begun to talk about work and rates and the media and politics and other adult stuff that Blanca found boring. Feeling weird about being the only kid there, Blanca quietly excused herself and went upstairs. She opened the door to the room she was sharing with Dom and Rose, flinging herself on her bed, she glanced at her watch, it was only a bit past Eight O'clock, she turned to make herself more comfortable and before she knew it, she was softly snoring.

It was almost noon and the girls were at Madame Malkin's trying on new robes for the term. "I think that one's cute Rose, what do you think?" Hermione said as she pulled a robe from a rack nearby.

"It doesn't matter mom, they're all the same anyway." Rose mumbled as Madame Malkin was putting pins and needles all over the robe she was currently trying on.

"My, I wish Lily was that simple," Ginny muttered under her breath. "Don't you girls have a multitude of balls and dances and stuff this term?"

"Not really," Blanca replied, "The Yule ball is not for another two years. We only have the Christmas and Halloween balls this term, and I think we can find dress robes at Hogsmeade."

"Blanca's right, it's not like that stuff is super important anyway."

Dominique scoffed, "Of course it is! Dances are the only things that are closest to freedom at Hogwarts. Aunt Hermione, which of these robes do you think would show my prefects' badge really nicely?"

"They're all black," The reply came from Rose.

"Which one do you like dear?" Hermione asked her as she shot her daughter a sharp look.

"I think I'll take all of them!"

"I thought so too."

After they were done paying for their robes, Hermione, Blanca and Rose made their way to Flourish and Blotts while Ginny, Molly, Lucy and Dominique made their way to Florean's for some ice cream. Once inside the crowded store, they each picked up new cauldrons and started to fill them with books that they were going to need.

"I think I'm going to take Advanced Potions," Rose said.

"Yeah, me too." Blanca said as she threw an Advanced Potions text book into her cauldron.

"I think Advanced Arithmancy would be in order too," Rose said as she put the book in her cauldron.

"Now there my friend, you are on your own," Blanca replied as she pulled an N.E.W.T level Charms textbook from a shelf, "Because unlike you, I'm not a masochist."

Blanca looked around the shop, she could see a lot of familiar faces, there was Linda Jordan, Sally Brewer from Ravenclaw, Marcello Pollini from her Transfiguration class, Bernie Macmillan smiled and waved at her and she saw a few other students in her year.

"Well well," a snide nasal voice sneered from behind Blanca, she did not even need to turn to realise that it was Pepper Parkinson, "Isn't it Thomas and the red-headed little bint." Blanca turned around to see the raven haired Slytherin and her three minions standing behind her.

"What do you want Parkinson?" Rose huffed.

"Oh nothing, just came to tell Thomas that the buzzards called and they want their-" she trailed off when she looked up to see that Blanca's usual puffy hair was not there.

Blanca gave a small smile and took a step towards her, "Yes. I know they called, Parkinson, but this time they left _you_ a message," leaning closer, she said, "They want their beak back."

Pepper turned an angry shade of red before turning round to walk away, while she was still in earshot, Blanca yelled, "And their neighbours, the pug-dog family asked if they could have their face back too!"

Pepper stopped in her tracks, turning back, she began to slowly advance towards Blanca, "Why you little bitch-"

"Shut up Parkinson," Rose stepped in, "it's been a long day and we just want to get our things and leave! Now if you could move over..."

"What Weasley?" Pepper asked in mock-curiosity, "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Frida Bullstrode asked.

"You see Frida, in a family like this," she waved a hand towards Rose, "money is a new concept and they're afraid that if they don't use it soon enough, it might rot!" Slowly advancing towards Rose, she said, "Must be a big day for you huh?"

"How _dare _you?" Rose fumed, wand drawn directly at Pepper's neck.

"Hey," Blanca said to Rose, trying to hold her back, "Let's just go, she's not worth it."

"What are you going to do Weasley?" Pepper mocked, "Are you going to curse me in front of everyone?"

"Hey! Hey!" It was Mr. Smitty, the shop attendant, "There will be no duelling in my shop! Take it outside!"

"Go on," Pepper sneered, "you have me at your mercy, just do it!"

"Oi!" Mr. Smitty was getting closer now, Rose gave a frustrated breath and dropped her hand to her side.

Pepper gave Rose a triumphant smile and with a flick of her hair, she turned and flounced away.

"Are you okay?" Blanca asked.

"I'm fine," Rose replied, "I wouldn't be bothered by her anyway."

"Yeah," Blanca agreed, "Don't you just _love _to hate her?"

"I just can't wait to get back to Hogwarts so I can jinx that little bint into a flea."

"Girls," Hermione emerged from behind a shelf, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, nothing mum," Rose replied, "Just Pepper Parkinson."

Hermione nodded in understanding. Everybody knew Pepper Parkinson; she was just as nasty as her mother and would not rest until she got what she wanted. When Pepper was born, her mother had claimed that it was Draco Malfoy's child, the allegations went on for three years until the press got bored. Pansy still claimed that Pepper was a Malfoy, though she looked nothing like one. Pepper was also convinced she was a Malfoy, demanding that her friends called her Pepper Malfoy and insisting that Scorpius was her half-brother. And even though she was showered in riches and all the luxury she could be offered at the hands of her grandparents (hey! The Parkinsons had more money than they knew what to do with), Pepper was still bitter at the fact that the only person she believed to be her father did not want anything to do with her.

"Hurry girls," Hermione said, "we need to get to the Burrow in time for lunch."

The girls quickly ran through all the things they needed and left the shop to meet Ginny and the others at Florean's. "Oh, thank goodness you're back!" Ginny said as she got up from her seat, "Angelina just sent me a Patronus."

"What happened? Don't tell me Fred and James blew something up again." Hermione said.

"No, it's not them," Ginny said, "It's Roxanne, she brought home Miguel Zabini. Everyone's really upset about it and she says Roxanne and Mom are currently having the biggest row in Weasley history!" She was already paying the guy at the Floo Station and grabbing some Floo powder, "Come on girls! We need to get there before half the Weasley clan ends up in Azkaban."

"Oh, the irony, well, at least Gran got what she wanted," Rose whispered to Blanca. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"...and your grandfather is upstairs! Nearly had a conniption!" Mrs. Weasley could be heard from the kitchen as they got out of the fireplace in the living room.

In the living room, Miguel was practically glued to his seat, his heavily lashed eyes fixed upon the floor. The other chairs were filled by George, Bill, Charlie, Harry, Percy and Ron. Each had a different expression on his face: Harry looked like he was unsure of whether to speak or not, so his mouth kept twitching open and closed; Percy looked solemn, like he had been told someone was about to die; Bill looked very thoughtful, as if analysing the gravity of the situation; Charlie was examining the scars on his hands as though it was the first time he was seeing them; Ron looked comical, switching his gaze from Miguel to George frequently; and finally, George, his face was as red as a tomato, jaw clenching and unclenching, his knuckles were white as he clutched the arm of his seat and he looked just about ready to jump Miguel and tear him to shreds. Yes, the tension was so thick it could be sliced clear with a knife.

"Oh Merlin, there goes your grandmother..." Ginny muttered as she pushed past the girls to rush into the kitchen, Hermione closely behind. At the sight of their wives, Harry and Ron quickly jumped off their seats, "Cowards." Blanca could hear Ginny mutter as they got up to follow them. In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley's eyes were wide, one hand on her hip, the other clutched tightly on her wand, on the stool opposite her, Roxanne was in tears, her eyes, lips and nose all swollen from crying. At the table, Fleur had a comforting arm around Angelina, who looked catatonic, her hands at the sides of her face, she was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Hello people, are we late for the party?"

"Now's not the time to be funny Ginerva!" Mrs. Weasley snapped, "Not when Roxanne has decided to marry _him!_" She pointed her wand in the direction of the living room.

"Since _when?_"

"But I love him! You're the one that insisted I settle down, where's all that now?" Roxanne cried.

"Love!" Mrs. Weasley scoffed, "Then why did you not bring him here earlier? You spring him upon us waving an engagement ring and you think we are going to all hug and dance around mulberry bushes?"

"It's because I knew you would all act like this!" she turned to her mother, "Mom! Say something!"

"I can't," Angelina said weakly, "Not when you've been sneaking around and lying to all of us all this time."

"I know what this is all about!" Roxanne huffed, "It has nothing to do with me hiding him from you at all! It's because he's a _Pureblood!_" she yelled.

"Okay everybody, let's all calm down and go over this slowly," Hermione said calmly, as she gingerly put her shopping bags on the table.

"Mione..." Ron raised an eyebrow at her, as though asking whether she was sure what she was doing. She gave him a reassuring smile, as though saying she had everything under control, which was probably true. Hermione Weasley had worked at 's as a Psyche Healer for almost fifteen years now, and she took her job seriously. So if there was anyone that would be able to better the situation, it would be her.

The girls took this as their opportunity to dash upstairs, once in their rooms, Dom shut the door behind her and sighed, "I wouldn't want to be Roxanne right now..."

Rose was on her bed, the sickly green pallor she had on her face earlier in the morning had returned, and Blanca knew exactly what she was thinking: If the family went nuts over Zabini, just because he was a Slytherin Pureblood, what would they do if they found out she was with Scorpius Malfoy? Not only was he a Slytherin Pureblood, their families had been feuding for years and as if that wasn't enough, before the 2nd War, his family had been Voldermort's cheerleaders.

Outside, the boys lay under the large oak tree. "So what do you think is going on inside?" Hugo mused.

"Zabini's funeral." Albus replied, "You can hear Gran's voice from out here."

"If I didn't know any better," Louis said, "I'd swear a banshee had broken into the house."

"Yeah, I've never seen dad so angry in my whole entire life! Shit!" Fred agreed.

"Can't you losers talk about anything else?" James said as he passed his cigarette for Fred to smoke, "You're kind of wrecking the construction of my shag list."

"Shag list?" Hugo asked, confused.

"It's a list we make every term, James and I," Fred replied, "Of the girls we're gonna shag during the term, we rate them from 'fit' to 'hag' and then pick from there. Don't you do that?"

Hugo shrugged, "I'm only fourteen, the legal age for a witch or wizard to have sex is sixteen."

James scoffed, "Nobody follows that law, I got laid in my third year."

"Perv." Al muttered.

James lifted himself on his elbows so he could face his brother, "I'm not a perv, little brother, I'm just a man with needs that have to be fulfilled. You, on the other hand, are the prude that's afraid of a little fun."

Albus scoffed, "I just have values."

"Do you hear yourself?" Louis said as he drew a drag from his cigarette, "You sound like Uncle Percy!"

"Har-har very funny," Al said sarcastically.

"But seriously Al, Maxime Jaime, when are you gonna shag her?" Louis asked.

"None of your bloody business!" Al snapped.

"Ey! Touchy touchy!" Louis relied.

"Well if you don't... I will..." James said in a sing song voice.

Albus shot up like he had just been stung, pointing a threatening finger at his brother, "You will not go anywhere near her!"

"But she's mega fit..." James mock-whined, this caused the other's to laugh. Except Al though, who shot daggers at his brother.

"Watch it..." he warned.

Back in the house, Hermione had managed to get everyone in the living room to discuss the situation, and so far, she had at least gotten George to mumble a few things to his daughter, he still could not bring himself to speak to the boy that wanted to take his little girl from him. Mr Weasley had also calmed down and had managed to come down to the living room, he was the one that was speaking to Miguel, although it seemed more like an interrogation than anything.

Mrs. Weasley headed back to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. "It's a little too late for lunch now anyway," she muttered to herself. She looked up at the stairway and saw Rose and Blanca coming down the stairs. "Oh, hi girls," she said a little too brightly, "lucky you came in just now. Could you help me with the potatoes? There's a salad over there that I made whilst preparing lunch. But now..." she trailed off in her own thoughts.

The girls quickly rushed to the pile of potatoes in the corner, each too afraid to say anything. Mrs. Weasley looked like an unstable bomb today. She took a deep breath and turned to face them, "Do you think I was too harsh to Roxy?" she asked.

"Uh...we don't know, we weren't there."

"No, but I could have been softer anyway right? She said she was in love, I should have left it at that," she went over to start preparing the mutton and continued to mutter about how she should have been more understanding seeing as her family never wanted her to marry Arthur in the first place.

That night, supper went on as normally as it usually went in the Weasley circus- well, almost normally. Miguel had been invited to stay for the meal by Mrs. Weasley, and it had been agreed upon that the Weasleys and the Zabinis met for lunch some time to get to know each other, probably as an indirect 'I'm sorry' to Roxanne from Mrs Weasley, so even though the usual hubbub was present, there would be periods of awkward silence- something that was not Weasley-like.

After supper, Blanca and Rose quickly rushed upstairs to their room. "Well, some day it's been yeah?" Rose sighed, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I know you're scared," Blanca said.

"They can never find out," she said frantically, "If they do. Oh Merlin..."

Blanca gave her best friend a pat on the back, "Get some sleep. We have to get back to la-la land tomorrow." She said in a mock-whimsical voice.

Rose giggled as she changed into her pyjamas. "Where's Dom?"

"She's probably with Mol, Luce and Lils, Lily bought the new Weird Sisters album and they're probably going to listen to it all night," Blanca offered.

"Fine by me," Rose replied, they were both in their beds staring at the old ceiling when Blanca realised she had left her wand in the treehouse from the previous night. Cursing at her carelessness, Blanca heaved herself from her bed and started for the door.

"Where are you off to?" Rose asked, "It's nearly midnight."

"Left my wand in the treehouse, I'll be back soon."

In the treehouse, James sat against one of the walls, taking constant swigs from a bottle of Firewhisky. He was in the process of creating his shag list. His thoughts diverted to Skye Massey, the Ravenclaw in his year, she was super fit; how come he had never managed to get her on his shag list? He made a mental note to work on it when he got back. Taking another swig of his Firewhisky, he sat back and smiled at how great his life was going to be; become an auror, live the fast life and never settle down, that way, he could play hero and have all the girls he wanted. A banging on the hatch door disturbed him from his thoughts, shortly, a head emerged from under the hatch, it was Thomas. Just the last person he wanted to see, he huffed , "What do you want Thomas?"

Blanca narrowed her eyes at James, just my luck! She muttered sarcastically in her head. "Just came to get something Potter," she spat, "don't worry, soon enough, you'll be able to resume your love affair with that bottle." She pointed to the Firewhisky next to him. Quickly making her way to the window ledge she had set it on the night earlier, she gasped in horror as she saw it wasn't there.

"What?" James asked.

"It must have fallen out, oh no..." Blanca was muttering to herself.

"I thought you said you weren't taking long." James drawled.

"I just lost my wand Potter. Now's not the time for your stupid comments..." she said as she got on all fours and scouted the floor.

"Does it have a studded handle?" James asked.

"What do you care..." she stopped in mid sentence as she spun around to face him, he had a mischievous look on his face, "Where is it?"

James smiled, "Look who has the upper hand now Thomas."

"I don't have time for this! Just give me my wand!"

"And what do I get in return?"

"What do you want?"

James' smile got wider, "A kiss."

Blanca looked disgusted, "I'd rather kiss a Dementor."

James slowly took her wand out of his pocket and held it right above his head, clearly way out of her reach. "Give...it...back!" she was jumping up and down like a maniac, after a few minutes to James' amusement, she finally stopped, pulling her oversized T-shirt over her night shorts, she huffed, "Fine. I'll kiss you."

James lowered his head to level hers, after getting her wand safely in her hands, Blanca leaned up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. James looked utterly shocked, "That was not a kiss Thomas!"

"Yes it was. You did not specify as to where I would kiss you," smiling proudly to herself, Blanca turned on her heel and started to walk away when James grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his chest.

Blanca could not breathe, how could someone who had always made her hot and bothered make her all hot and bothered in a whole different way? She could feel his hand against the small of her back, his other hand let go of her wrist and pulled her chin up to face him, before she knew it, his lips came crashing down on hers. It was a hot, searing kiss and as suddenly as he had started, James pulled back. He looked at Blanca with a smug smile on his face, "That's what's called a real kiss Thomas." Then, walking to his Firewhisky, he picked it up and disappeared under the trap door, leaving a dumb-struck Blanca behind.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

DESTINATION HOGWARTS

The drive to King's Cross was unusually short, only made eventful by Hugo's argument with his father on why he couldn't be given driving lessons.

"But you're too young!" Ron bellowed for the umpteenth time.

"But James and Al learnt to drive at thirteen! Uncle Harry was cool enough to teach them!" at the mention of the name James, Blanca's stomach gave a few back-flips, she glanced behind her, where the Potters' car was, steadily driving behind them and wondered whether he too was thinking of the kiss they shared the previous night.

"But they were far more mature than you are! Show me that and maybe I'll consider it!"

"Come on dad! I'm not five anymore!"

"I'm well aware of that! I liked you better when you were five!"

"Okay! Cut it out, you two!" Hermione said, turning to look at Blanca and Rose, who sat at either side of Hugo, she said, "Why you two are unusually quiet back there. Why so?"

"Uh, just thinking of school, that's all mum," Rose quickly dismissed.

They pulled into King's Cross and waited for the Potters and the other Weasleys to pull up. They all lugged their trunks on their trolleys and quickly rushed onto platform 9 and three quarters.

"Now be good!"

"See you at Christmas!"

"No more calls from Professor McGonagall Fred and James!"

"Lily! Please don't hex that Jimmy boy's head again! We've had too many calls from his parents!"

"Study hard!"

Were some of the things that could be heard from the Potter-Weasley clan as they bade farewell to their children. Once on the Hogwarts Express, Blanca and Rose quickly wove their way through the crowds of students to find a compartment. "Oi! Blanca! Over here!" Melanie waved to them from an empty-looking compartment. Once inside, Blanca could see Linda Jordan, huddled with her best friend, Florence Ordaz in one corner. Next to them, Paige Cobb and her boyfriend, Bernie Macmillan were playing tongue hockey, seemingly oblivious to anyone that was in the room.

"Mel!" Blanca said as she gave her friend a hug.

"Hi Rosie!" Mel said to Rose, who was standing behind her friend. They all took the seat opposite Linda and Florence, who snapped out of their conversation to greet the two new comers.

"Hi Rose! Er...hello Blanca how are you?" she asked.

"I'm great!" Blanca replied.

"Are you sure?" Linda asked, well aware of what had happened between her and her brother.

Blanca grimaced, here we go, she thought, "Yes. What would make you think otherwise?" she said, deciding that playing dumb was the wisest way out.

So everyone resumed their conversations, Mel filled them in on what she had done the whole summer, pausing only to comment on what she would notice mid-way through her stories, like Blanca's new hair and Rose's loss of weight.

A half hour later, Rose excused herself from the compartment, "Prefect duty." She said.

"But we don't have prefect duty until an hour from now." Florence replied.

"Well, uh... I'm just going to prepare for it..." Rose replied as she closed the compartment door behind her.

"My, I must have bored her..." Mel said sadly.

"You didn't, she just had something to do."

"She's never liked me!"

"Hush up Mel! You're overreacting!"

Once in the corridor, Rose walked past the compartments, looking into all of them for Scorpius' blond head, she was giving up when a hand pulled her into a storage cabinet.

"I've been waiting forever to do that!" Scorpius huskily whispered in her ear.

Rose giggled as she let him plant hot kisses along her neckline, she grabbed his face and guided his mouth to hers. "I missed you," she said mid kiss.

"I missed you more," he whispered on her neck, "Two weeks away from you felt like forever."

"I know," she shivered as he bit down on her collarbone, "Scorpius, please don't leave a mark."

"I promise," he whispered, "I wanna stay like this forever..."

The mention of the word 'forever' made Rose flinch away involuntarily.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked, clearly surprised.

"Uh...nothing." she said quickly, though in her head, Roxy's drama the day before was playing over and over in her head, "I've got to go."

"Rose! Wait! What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll see you later," she planted a quick, chaste kiss on his lips and left the cabinet. Leaving Scorpius to think about what had suddenly made her act all strange.

Meanwhile, in another storage cabinet not too far away, James was having his welcome back shag. This time it was Analeigh something from Slytherin, James loved Slytherin girls, they ranked second from Gryffindors. Slytherin girls were smart and sexy, but they also had an extra trick up their sleeve, to James' delight, Analeigh was super agile; what this girl could do with her legs was amazing. "You like that?" she whispered in his ear as she bit it. James groaned deep in his throat, this girl had a raw, primal animalistic thing about her that just drove him insane; his hands found their way up her shirt and stopped only when they settled on her large bosom. Analeigh arched her back as she allowed James' mouth to leave hers and explore her neck. James was about to seal the deal when he heard a laugh from outside the door. The sound came like a bucket of cold water over his head when he recognised the person the laugh belonged to, and like they had both suddenly weighed a ton, James' arms dropped from Analeigh's hot body to his sides. "What?" a stunned Analeigh asked.

"Nothing." He started to zip his trousers and throw his T-shirt over his head.

"But we just started!" she protested.

"Look, it's been a lot of fun, really, it has been. But I seriously need to go," he said as he passed her bra to her, with a naughty smile, he added, "maybe we could finish off from where we started later?"

Analeigh angrily glared at him, "Maybe not!" she snapped as she pushed past him to leave.

James ran a frustrated hand through his messy black locks, "Stupid Thomas!" he said, she had just ruined his first shag of the school year. Stepping outside the cabinet, he saw that she was just a few steps away from him; her and her little Hufflepuff friends were all huddled around the trolley lady, yelling their orders, James snorted and stalked off to the cabin he was sharing with Fred, Louis and Lance. "Back so soon," Fred observed as James slid the door open.

"Fuck off Fred," James hissed as he sat by the window next to Fred and chewed on a liquorice wand Fred offered him. On the bench opposite him was Lance, he had Lexi curled up on his lap, next to them, reading a thick novel was Louis and sitting next to him, directly opposite James was a girl he had never seen before. She sat by the window and studied the scenery like it was the only thing that existed, her hands folded neatly on her lap, which was clad in a short tartan skirt, her white blouse revealed just the tip of her pink lace bra and her milky white neck had a golden locket with the letter 'J' engraved in the middle. She had rich, curly golden hair streaked with white-blond highlights and her perfectly arched eyebrows showed off her golden almond-shaped eyes, she had a perfectly pointed nose and her full pink lips were in a slight pout due to her concentration on the scenery.

"Hi," James said to her. The girl snapped out of her trance to look at him, she smiled softly and said 'hi' back. "I haven't seen you here before, are you new? I'm James by the way, James Potter," he held out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Jenna, Jenna Hart. And yeah, I'm kinda new here," the girl replied, James noted that she had an American accent, "My sisters and I transferred here from the American Institute of Magic."

"Why so?" James asked curiously.

"My father got a job here, he's now with the British Ministry, did you say you're James Potter?"

"Yep."

"That means your father must be..."

"Harry Potter," James patiently replied, he was sick of always being associated to his father.

"That must be really cool..." Jenna mused.

"Nah...not really actually! It's not like he even acts all noble and stuff...he's just a regular old dad. If you want to talk about cool dads, then take a look at Fred and Louis over here, even Lance. My uncle George, his dad," he gestured to Fred, "is the world's greatest prankster, he owns the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes chain of joke shops."

"Yep, he is the residential clown," Fred said, which made Jenna giggle softly.

"And have you ever heard of Lee Jordan?"

"Yeah! He hosts that show, Total Quidditch right? The one that features a Quidditch star every week, I never miss it!"

"That over there," he gestured to Lance, who was currently whispering sweet nothings into Lexi's ear, "Is an original Lee Jordan product."

"Liquorice wand?" Fred passed a piece of candy to a laughing Jenna.

"Thankyou." She said as she bit into the red candy.

"Louis' dad over there, my uncle Bill, he is a curse-breaker, got bitten by a werewolf but was still good enough to marry a Veela."

"She's part Veela!" Louis snapped.

"Whatever, your mom's still hot for forty," James replied.

"You're gross," Louis said as he resumed reading his book.

Jenna was looking completely amused by now, "Oh really?"

"Yes, it's true, I'm gross." James replied, dramatically bowing his head.

"No, not that!" she laughed, "So you're part Veela?" she asked Louis.

"No, not really...well at least I don't like to think so." Louis replied from his book.

"The modest one of the family," James replied.

"You're funny, James Potter," she smiled.

"James? Funny?" came Fred's voice, "Now that's a first!"

"And there goes my darling cousin, in denial that we are no longer the funny guy are we?" he asked Fred.

"Sod off!" he said as he threw a handful of Berty Bots at James.

"Are you guys always this _hilarious_?" Jenna was holding her stomach, gasping for air.

"You think that's funny?" Fred said, "Wait till you hear this-" and they proceeded telling her of their escapades at Hogwarts and life with their dysfunctional family. James studied this girl as she threw her head back and laughed. She was one of the few girls, with the exception of his family, that he had ever had a real conversation with, she seemed really cool and at ease with everyone, yes, Jenna Hart was different from most girls and James seemed surprised by the fact that the whole time they had been there, she had not made a move towards him, what surprised him even more, was the fact that even though he could acknowledge that she was super hot, he had not, not once, made a move towards her. James smiled to himself, it seemed like bagging her would be an interesting challenge.

The six O'clock whistle blew, Fred got up, "Time to robe up," he said as he grabbed his robes from the little compartment above them, turning to Louis, he asked, "Oi! Didn't you have prefect duty a couple of hours ago?"

"Meh!" Louis replied as he pulled his robes out, "I think Su-Ling has it all taken care of."

James got up to take his robes out of his compartment, turning to Jenna, he asked, "So, what house are you in?"

"Gryffindor," she replied as she got up and headed for the door.

"So I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then."

"Yeah, I guess so," she said as she disappeared behind the door

"Hey!" James said, "Aren't you going to change from here?"

Jenna smiled coyly and said, "Yeah, that's not happening."

"A hot one that un' yeah?" Fred observed.

"Yeah," James said with a faraway expression on his face.

"Okay, I'm gonna go join my dear Su-Ling organise the first years, she's probably breathing fire by now," Louis said as he disappeared behind the door too.

The train had stopped at Hogsmeade five minutes ago, and almost everyone was off the train, well, almost, because Blanca and Mel were in their compartment, on all fours, searching for Mel's charm bracelet, which she had somehow managed to lose from her wrist.

"I just can't leave it, my Great Gran Longbottom gave it to me, it's really special," she said in a panicky voice.

"Yes, I know," Blanca said patiently, she had already heard Mel say that at least a thousand and one times. Then, when Mel straightened up, something fell from her robe pocket, it was the charm bracelet. "Bloody hell! Mel, you had the fucking thing the whole time!"

"I'm sorry!" she half giggled, "I forgot that I had put it in there while changing so I wouldn't lose it."

"Don't never mind that! The carriages have obviously left by now! Let's hurry!"

They had just managed to catch the last carriage as it started to pull out of the station. "Wait!" Blanca yelled at the invisible force that pulled the carriage, which abruptly came to a halt.

"Thank heavens," she said as she heaved herself inside, Blanca just about swallowed her words when she saw who was in the carriage. Right in the corner, was Lexi and Lance, and opposite them was James and Fred. "Oh god," she muttered under her breath.

"Hullo everyone!" Mel said brightly as she took a seat next to Lance.

"Hi Melanie," James said, and when he caught her eye, Blanca noticed that Mel blushed and looked down. Whatever was that about, she wondered, but decided to ignore it.

So, turning to the only possible person she could talk to, she asked Fred, "What time is it?"

"Its 18:30," he replied, "you excited to come back?"

"Honestly, Quidditch is the only thing that keeps me from dropping out, though I know you are more than happy to return and cause Filch more trouble."

Fred ran a hand through his dreadlocks, Blanca observed they were streaked with ginger in random places, the only tell-tale sign that he was a Weasley, "Ah, you know me too well. But I guess I won't have much time to do that, I've got N.E. this year."

Blanca snorted, "You! Fred Weasley, are concerned about your grades?"

"Nope! But I'm concerned about the state of my life if I failed my N.E. !"

"Yeah, I guess we all want a good future after all."

"No! I'm actually afraid my mother will murder me if I blew it, that's all."

Blanca giggled. "Do you ever say anything without joking about it?"

"Hmmm, let's see... I don't joke about my bacon."

Blanca burst into even more laughter.

"No, really, I don't." Fred said.

"Will you two take your love fest elsewhere," James snapped, "you're not the only ones in here!"

"Are you talking to us," Blanca retorted, "or to those two that are trying to see how far down their throats are?"

A suction-like sound came from the corner as Lexi pulled away from Lance, "What is it, Casablanca, jealous much?"

"Of contracting something from your spit? I think not, and I would like it very much if you called me by my last name."

"But Casablanca is your name, is it not?"

"Call me Thomas." Blanca snapped, "Please." She added after some thought.

"Ooooh, cat fight," Fred chanted.

"Shut up Fredward," Blanca said, but with a smile on her face.

"I can see the castle lights," Melanie observed.

"Thankyou Merlin," Blanca sighed.

The carriages pulled up at the castle doors and Blanca jumped out as soon as they stopped. She rushed over to the castle doors where she was almost knocked over by Albus, "Watch out grandma!" he said.

"Sorry, I was just in a rush!"

"School doesn't start until tomorrow," he jested.

"Bug off!" she playfully shoved him.

Once in the hall, they parted ways and Blanca made her way to the Hufflepuff table and squeezed herself between Paige and Bernie, "We've had too much kissing for the day," she said as she received a death-glare from Paige. The sorting quickly went by and soon, the table was filled with food, which Blanca grabbed immediately.

"A little hungry are we?" Bernie noticed.

"Shush! I'm a nervous eater!"

"And just what are you nervous about?"

"Did you not hear McGonagall? The second game of the season is us against Gryffindor; and there will need to be Quidditch try-outs and stuff...!"

"Yeah. But why are you worried about all that? Doesn't the captain...wait!" his eyes were wide, "You're the captain! Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"We all knew you'd get it!"

"Shut up and let me eat," Blanca said, her mouth full of chicken.

A laugh from the Gryffindor table made her raise her head, there was a girl she had never seen before sitting between Lily and Rhiannon, she had a round face and a small pointy nose, her mouth formed in a perfect smile as she threw her head back in laughter, her wavy blonde hair fell softly on her shoulders.

"Who's that?" Bernie asked.

"Sophie Hart," the reply came from Linda, she was seated next to Paige, "part of the Hart sisters."

"Part of the Hart what?" Blanca asked.

"The Hart sisters. They transferred from America, Sophie is in her fourth year, her sister Jenna is in our year, and the twins, Hayley and Desiree are Seventh years." Linda elaborated.

""And you know all this how...?"

"Rhiannon Giggs told me," Linda said.

"Of course she did," Blanca said into her goblet.

"Whatever, she's really hot," Bernie observed, which he instantly regretted as Paige's hand flew past Blanca to smack the back of his head.

"What did you say?" she angrily asked.

"Nothing sweetie," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I thought so." She muttered, "Where's Melanie?"

Blanca looked around and realised that Mel was nowhere to be found, feeling guilty about leaving her friend in the carriage, she quickly got up and said, "She must be in the dorm, I've gone to find her."

She rushed out of the hall and rushed past the portraits to the giant moving staircase, she rushed to the common room and after tapping on the barrels, got into the ever so familiar yellow and black room.

"There you are," she said as she climbed into their circular dorm, "I was beginning to think you had decided to go back with the carriages."

Mel was lying on her bed, making little sparks with her wand, "Hi," she said flatly. This was so not like Melanie Longbottom, she was the most energetic person Blanca ever knew, and her lying on her back on the first day back from the summer break was out of character.

"Want to talk about something?" Blanca cautiously asked.

Mel looked like she was going to say something, but decided against it as she got up to wear her pyjamas, "What do you want to say?"

"I was hoping you'd have a story for me, but since you've got nothing," she said, a mischievous smile on her face, "I'll tell you a secret."

To Blanca's delight, Mel turned to face her, "Yeah? Do tell!"

"Okay. James Potter kissed me last night!" this time, to Blanca's dismay, Mel's face dropped.

"Oh." She said in a small voice.

"'Oh'? That's all you're gonna say, 'oh'?"

"Well, I just thought you loathed him, that's all," she said as she got into her black sheets.

"Yes. I do hate him, and he still hates me more than anything, that's why I was shocked when he kissed me." She said, "And even more surprisingly, I let him kiss me!" the expression she was expecting on Mel's face did not come, instead, she just remained as flat as ever.

"Maybe you like him," Mel drawled.

"But I don't, I think it's a whole physical attraction going on between us you know, nothing emotional, because I know I hate the git, but I feel like there's electricity between us! It's just my teenage hormones raging right?"

"Hmm," Mel sounded bored, "only physical. Goodnight." She drew her drapes and went to sleep.

Blanca felt offended; Mel had never blown her off like that! Even if something did not interest her, she would stick it out and pretend like it was, but today, she had snubbed Blanca. Blanca quickly changed into her pyjamas and got into her sheets, wondering what it was that had made Mel go so cold.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

HORNS

Blanca pushed her way past the crowd into her Advanced Transfiguration class, it had almost been two weeks since the term begun and she had finally managed to immerse herself into the hubbub of sixth year, and even though they had many free periods, it seemed that the amount of homework they were assigned would grow by the day. Today was the first time she was going to take Advanced Transfiguration, hands still slightly muddy from Herbology, Blanca burst into the large classroom. Advanced Transfiguration was a course that both sixth and seventh years took, so the classroom was filled with both. Though 'filled' was not the exact word to use, as there were only twenty four students in the classroom, fourteen of them were sixth years; Rose and Jenna were the only Gryffindors, then Scorpius, Pepper and Antonio were the Slytherins there, Blanca, Bernie and Florence summed up all the Hufflepuffs in the class and the rest of the class was filled with Ravenclaws. The seventh years that were not Ravenclaws were James, to Blanca's dismay, Emmet Nott, Desiree and Molly and Dominique. Puffing in annoyance that all the good seats had been taken; she walked to the back of the class and took a seat next to Scorpius.

"Good day Thomas." Scorpius said politely.

"Malfoy," Came the reply, Blanca quickly put her bag down and took out her textbook. Just then, Professor McGonagall walked in, robes billowing behind her in a dramatic fashion. Immediately, Blanca's interest peaked, she had never been in any of McGonagall's classes, and that was because the professor only taught Advanced Transfiguration now. Blanca silently thanked Merlin that she was never going back to normal Transfiguration with Professor Hicks, the man spoke through his nose and smelt of soup, he also was the most uninspiring teacher she ever had. As soon as she reached the front of the class, McGonagall's voice cut through the classroom.

"Welcome to Advanced Transfiguration, and to the seventh years, welcome back. As you may have figured, sixth years, I will be your Professor from now on, and if you were not nervous before, get nervous now! I run a tight ship here, so if you fall behind, I will not hesitate to send you back to core-level Transfiguration with the rest. So try more than your best to keep up, and I can assure you this will be a rewarding course, any questions?" she looked around the room with her beady eyes, and when no one dared to put their hand up, she continued, "Today, we are going to practice '_Anteoculatia_'." she waved her wand at the board and the word appeared on the black surface, "Turn to page 121 in your textbooks."

Blanca quickly turned the pages to her textbook and found the topic 'Introduction to Becoming an Animagi'. A few pages ahead was the sub-topic 'Anteoculatia'; it read, '_this spell turns subject's hair to antlers. Wand Wave Pattern: Flick, Swish, Swish, Flick_'

McGonagall proceeded to speak, "Now, as I believe you may have read, it is a spell that grows antlers from one's hair. I would like you to pair up and try this spell on your partner," she said.

People proceeded to pair up, Blanca ending up with Scorpius. "Okay," she breathed, "you go first."

Scorpius took a step back, and after drawing a deep breath, muttered the spell. Blanca felt a ticklish sensation on the top of her head, a few seconds later, the sensation ceased and Scorpius smiled. It was a pleasant difference from the smirk he always wore, he handed Blanca a mirror and she saw that tiny antlers had grown neatly from underneath her hair, she smiled and put the mirror down. "So, how did I do?" he asked.

"Well, if ever I had to be mutated and end up with horns, these antlers would be just what I'd want." She commented. Professor McGonagall passed by their desk and studied Scorpius' work.

"Good work Malfoy. Thomas, may I see your attempt?"

Blanca breathed in deeply, there was added pressure now that McGonagall was standing directly behind her, she raised her wand to Scorpius' head and muttered the spell. Slowly, from under his hair, little stick-like growths begun to worm their way around each other, and in no time, real-sized antlers were settled on Scorpius' head. She looked nervously at McGonagall who curtly nodded and said, "Well executed." And with that, she moved on to another desk.

Blanca took a shaky breath and started scrawling down the notes that McGonagall had charmed to appear on the board. She stole a glance at the back of James' head, he was partnered with the new girl Jenna, they seemed to be having a good time together, Blanca felt a pang on annoyance that she could not explain. She quickly averted her eyes to the board and concentrated on taking the notes.

"Oh my god James, you look so good with antlers!" she heard Jenna squeal.

Blanca gave out an involuntary huff of annoyance; this did not go unnoticed by Scorpius, who had been watching her gaze, "What? Jealous?" he whispered.

"What are you talking about Malfoy?"

"I've seen you dreamily gazing at Potter boy over there, Thomas, what's happening? Got the hots for him?"

Blanca glared at him, "You're crazy. I don't know what you're talking about." She hissed.

Scorpius gave her a shrug and a half smile, "Whatever you say." And he went back to his notes.

Blanca huffed, "Okay. So I may sound crazy but isn't it disgusting the way girls throw themselves at him? They don't even mind that they have to take turns to have him...it's repulsive!"

"Seems like someone grew horns over the summer. And I'm just not saying that because of your current look," he motioned to her antlered head.

"Fuck off Malfoy!"

"But seriously Thomas, why should you care? You never have, why now? And no, I do not find it disgusting, I find it quite amusing, girls also throw myself at me, so what are you saying about me Thomas?"

"Nothing. I know you are a prick Malfoy, but at least you handle the girls with class, and besides, I now know you are one-woman man now."

Scorpius sighed, "She told you, didn't she?"

Blanca smirked, "Nothing goes past me Malfoy. Rose and I, we are a package deal. But let me warn you, if you do anything to hurt her, I'll gut you like a fish."

Scorpius nodded and raised his hands in mock-surrender, "Whatever you say boss."

Blanca noticed that McGonagall had finished her rounds and returned to the front of the class, she flicked her wand at the board and another set of words appeared. "This is the counter-spell, use it and when you're done, you are free to go. And for your homework, write an essay on the history of Animagi, 15 inches long, it will serve as part of your final assessment, so take it seriously."

Blanca and Scorpius quickly counter-spelled one another and left the room, in front of them were Rose and Lysander Scamander, Blanca noticed Scorpius gazing longingly at the red-headed girl in front of him but knew that he could not do anything to act upon it because they were supposed to keep their relationship secret. She looked up at him and whispered, "Remember, do anything stupid, and I'll squash you like a bug."

"I thought you said you'd gut me like a fish," Scorpius said.

Blanca scowled at him, "It doesn't matter Malfoy," and with that, she quickly walked past him and grabbing Rose's hand, they scurried away.

Scorpius looked at the two girls as they disappeared round a bend, the shorter one had seriously grown scarier over the summer. It might have been the fact that being mercilessly dumped may have toughened her skin, or it just might have been hormonal imbalance. But whatever it was, Scorpius made his mind that he would steer clear of her just to be on the safe side. He quickly muttered the password at the Portrait of Slytherin and pulled it open to enter the secret shortcut that led to the Slytherin common room.

Back in the room of requirement, Blanca and Rose were lying on a small mat, all sorts of candy scattered around them.

"So when will you do your homework?" Blanca asked.

Rose sighed, "Oh, I don't know, maybe some time later tonight."

"Good. So, when you are done, I can copy off you then."

"You wish!" Rose laughed. They sat in silence for some time, and just when Rose was about to break the awkward silence between them, Blanca beat her to it.

"So, what do you think about that new girl, Jenna Hart?" she asked, while thoughtfully chewing a chocolate frog.

"Oh, I don't know. She seems pretty cool, her and her sisters have become quite popular," Rose replied, "anyway, why do you ask? I thought you weren't the type that probed in other people's business."

"I'm not. I was just curious...so, are she and James like a couple or something?"

"I lost track of James' girlfriend list by fourth year, so it could be possible..." then as if a bulb had lit up in her head, Rose shot up from her lying position, she supported her weight on her elbows as she turned to face her friend, "Why so curious all of a sudden?"

"Just asking... I mean, you know-" she was cut off before she could even continue.

"Wait a minute! You just called him James!"

"What?"

"James! You never call him James! It's always 'Potter', or 'that Devil-cousin of yours' or something mean like that!"

Blanca grasped for words, "Well...uh, I just... I think it's the amount of work I have to do, and the stress of planning a game play for my house and there's Quidditch try-outs..." she sighed, defeated, "Well, it's his name isn't it?"

Rose raised one eyebrow at her, "I would beg to differ! Do you want to know what I think?"

"No."

"I think you like my cousin."

It was Blanca's turn to shoot up from her lying position, "That is insane! You now Rose, for a smart girl, you sure are clueless about some things! I would rather eat dirt than fall for your cousin!"

Rose gave her a signature Weasley mischievous smile, "I think you have it in for James B!"

"I'm telling you, there is nothing I feel for that dolt! God! I think Malfoy must be rubbing off on you badly, cause you're falling to conclusions too quickly!"

"Even Scorpius said so?" she asked, eyes suddenly turning starry.

"Yeah. We had a whole entire debate during Transfiguration about it. Let me just say this, cause I need to get it out of my system; is there a physical attraction between me and your cousin? Yes. Well, on my part yes, and I think it's just… you know, just physical. On his part, I don't know, cos your cousin seems to be attracted to anything in a skirt as long as it's not related to him by blood. Oh, I don't know Rosie...and things got worse when he kissed me the other night-"

"Wait! Stop! James _kissed _you? When?"

"Well, it was the night before we came back, remember when I left my wand in the tree house and went to get it? Yeah, I found him there and one thing led to another, and he kissed me, and..."

"And?" Rose probed.

"Well, I let him," Blanca said in a small voice. "I know this may sound gross cos you two are related but recently, every time I'm near him, it's like there is this fire that engulfs my whole body, I get really hot and bothered and all the thoughts in my head suddenly become ungodly."

"Gross! You like my cousin!" Rose chanted in a sing-song voice.

"I don't! It's just physical."

"So that's why the sudden interest in Jenna. You're scared she'll steal him from you!" Rose teased.

"Shut up Weasley." Blanca said from under the cushion she had buried her head into.

"But I'd get worried if I were you Blanca. Jenna's hot, and James seems to really like her. Like, like her like her. Let's face it, she's really hot and has the added advantage of coming from an interesting place which gives her the 'exotic' quality guys would kill for."

"Wow Rosie, you sound like you're prepping me for battle or something. I don't even want him in that way!" Blanca said, then she added sarcastically, "But anyway, thanks for the pep talk. I'll sharpen my nails and take my battle axe with me!"

"What's the time?" Rose asked.

Blanca glanced at her wrist, "It's nearly noon. I have to get ready for Quidditch try-outs, we play Gryffindor in three weeks."

"You know that every time you talk Quidditch my mind phases out right?"

"Well, your boyfriend happens to play for his house, so to be fair, you're going to have to peak an interest of sorts," Blanca said as she got up.

Rose groaned.

"See you later," she said as she left a groaning Rose on the floor.

Blanca made her way to the bleachers, where a number of Hufflepuffs waiting with their brooms. "Uh, hullo everyone, thanks for coming. Well, I will sort you into groups here...now may I have those trying out for Beaters here...Seekers here...and Chasers over here, Keepers can stand over here. Okay, good."

Try-outs went smoothly, with Bernie re-instating his position as Keeper, Seventh years Calvin Watterson and Priya Kaneswaran as Beaters, Fifth year Luke Payne was made Seeker and the Chasers were Blanca, Melanie and Second year Jerome Butler. Five reserves were picked and the rest had to go back.

"Alright team," Blanca said, "We have three weeks to work hard and win the game against Gryffindor. Macmillan, you will be my deputy-captain and now that we are set, how about a lap around the field?"

Quidditch practice went smoothly after that, even Mel had quit her horrid mood for the day. For someone so seemingly harmless and naive, Melanie Longbottom had a mean aim; she was a really good Chaser and since they currently were on minimal speaking terms, Blanca did not feel that she was putting her on the team because they were best friends, but because she was an excellent Quidditch player.

Later that day, Blanca was in the common room, reading up on Animagi, she thought that they had already covered the entire topic in Third Year but to her surprise, there was much more about Animagi she did not know. She shifted in her seat, the sound of her pages rustling the only thing she could hear, unlike the Gryffindor common room, the Hufflepuffs were much, much quieter. Across from her were Bernie and Paige, cuddled up like there was no tomorrow, this brought many memories about her and Lance, the way they would ditch classes to go to the room of requirement just to be alone. Blanca sighed, well, at least no one had approached her with that story yet, and at least she had not heard any rumours surrounding her and Lance's break-up; that could have been due to the fact that the Harts were all everyone was talking about, or due to the fact that Blanca had kept herself hidden up in the common room, coming out only to go to class or to quickly get a book or two from the library. In all honesty, the latter was easier to believe. Looking at her watch, it read 18:30, people were beginning to go for supper, after long debate with herself, Blanca decided today she would finally brave the Great Hall and go have supper. Heaving herself out of the ridiculously comfy chairs, Blanca waddled to the barrel hole and walked out to the corridor. Using the shortcut that she had discovered in her attempt to avoid people, she quickly made her way through the dimly lit passage. With Rose spending all the free time she had with Scorpius and Mel still in her cold mood, Blanca felt alone, she pulled her jersey closer to her chest as she quickened her pace. As she turned a corner, a strong pair of arms grabbed her and covered her mouth before she could scream, when she had been released, Blanca angrily spun around to face a laughing Albus.

"Shit! Al! What do you want to do? Give me a heart attack?"

"Sssorry!" came Al's reply, voice full of laughter, "I was bored, and decided that the first person to turn this corner is the one I'd grab."

"And if it was Frida Bullstrode?"

"Then I would be a dead fish by now. But luckily for me, you passed by." Blanca chuckled softly, Albus continued, "Anyway, where have you been? You seem to have vanished these days. You never even come to our common room, in case you forgot, fifth years and up get some visiting hours in each other's common rooms."

"First of all, I haven't vanished, you always see me in D.A.D.A and Charms, don't you? Oh, strike that, you're too busy fantasising about Maxime and her radiant beauty," Blanca said jokingly, and laughed when Al feigned hurt and put a hand on his chest, "And secondly, I don't come to your common room cos you're all too arrogant you Gryffindors."

"But that never stopped you from coming in the past," Al said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I also can't come for reasons best kept to myself. Anyway, if you miss me so much, why can't _you_ come to my common room?"

Albus snorted, "Do you remember when I got sprayed with vinegar by those crazy barrels you people have instead of a normal portrait and password like normal people do?" he shuddered at the memory.

"Hey, you're the one that tapped the anthem wrong."

"Either way, I'm not going back there." He had his arm around her by now, Blanca just realised then how much she had missed him.

"So," she said, "how's the second week back?"

"Crazy. On top of it all, James is working us like crazy, the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game is not for another month but he's already prepping for battle." Blanca laughed, she felt oddly flattered that her team threatened James. But it had been like that since her Fourth year, yes, when it came to everything else, Gryffindor and Slytherin were sworn rivals, but things had changed concerning Quidditch, it was no longer Gryffindor VS Slytherin that got everyone's blood pumping, it was now Gryffindor VS Hufflepuff that peaked the Quidditch rivalry charts.

"Potter, always the perfectionist," she mused.

"He's not the only perfectionist around. Maxime's dragging me to Hogsmeade this Saturday so that we can get matching costumes for the Halloween ball, for crying out loud, it's not for another two months!"

"Speaking of your girlfriend," Blanca said, "here she comes right now," she said pointing to the opposite end of the corridor. They were all at the doors of the Great Hall by the time they met.

Maxime looked from Al to Blanca, then quickly plastered a smile on her face. "Hi sweetie, I've been looking all over for you," she said as she pried him from Blanca and planted a kiss on his lips, then turning to Blanca, she said, "Why, hello Blanca, I haven't seen you all term!"

"It's only been two weeks," she said quietly.

"Anyway," Maxime said as she flipped her soft brown curls, "you should so come join us at our table, we've missed you!"

Blanca begun to shake her head, "Uh...erm I don't think that will be such a good-"

"Oh come on! Just for tonight! It'll be great fun!"

"I don't-"

"Don't be a pansy B!" Al urged, "Let's go."

Blanca sighed, "Fine. But I get to pick where we sit."


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

SOME NIGHTS

Blanca, Al and Max took seats at the furthest end of the Gryffindor table, Al and Max were busy whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears and they were later joined by Rose, who seemed to be on another planet. "Earth to Rose!" Blanca said for the third time, Rose quickly jumped up and looked at Blanca.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, I just wanted to ask you to close your mouth, i've counted your teeth about fifteen times now," she said with a wink at the girl who was sitting across from her.

"Yeah, okay," Rose replied as she dreamily poked at her steak. Blanca looked around for some potatoes or anything un-meaty to eat. That was one thing about the Gryffindor table; almost everything had meat incorporated in it. Blanca had eaten at all four tables and had noticed that the food was not the same, the Gryffindors had an excess of meats and pumpkin juice at their table, Hufflepuffs had more potatoes, pies, roots and greens than anything else, Ravenclaws had mostly fruits, finger foods and soups, anything that was not in the category of the three was either too bland or too spicy, and the Slytherins had mostly cold meats, salads, fish and bread at their table. It was as if the food served represented the house traits as well.

"Is it okay if we joined you?" a breezy female voice with an American accent said. Blanca looked up and saw Jenna smiling down at her, behind her was James who was looking like he was on another planet too.

"Yeah, sure." Blanca mumbled as they sat down. This was the first time Blanca had seen Jenna up close and rats! She was really pretty, she had long, rich curly blonde hair that was highlighted in various places, she had almond shaped eyes, rosy cheeks, a majestic nose and full lips, this girl also had a body any girl would kill to have. Well, Blanca thought to herself, if it's any consolation...nah! There was no consolation; this girl killed all the 'fit babes' of Hogwarts dead! A plain-Jane like Blanca did not stand a chance.

"It's Casablanca Thomas right?" she said, holding her hand out for Blanca to shake.

Blanca looked at the perfectly manicured hand dumbly before taking it, "It's Blanca, that's what everyone calls me. And you are Jenna Hart no?"

"Yeah, Jenna it is."

A few moments later, they were joined by a tall, gangly girl who had her white-blonde hair cut in a pixie style, she had Jenna's nose too but unlike Jenna's rounded features, this girl had sharp, angular features. She had many piercings on each ear and Blanca could see a tattoo peeking out of her jumper. "Whuddup sis! You left me waiting in the library to help you with your homework, nice going, it's a really great view down there," she said sarcastically.

Jenna looked apologetic, "Sorry Dez, I just got caught up with something else, that's all."

"Yeah, or someone else," Rose muttered under her breath.

Dez looked up at Blanca and smiled, "Hi, I'm Desiree Hart, I've never seen you here before, are you new here?" she asked.

"No. I'm not new here," Blanca said, trying to stay polite, she hated the fact that she was being treated like a stranger at a table she frequented since first year, "Blanca Thomas by the way."

"But if you're not...how come I've never seen you in our common room?"

"That's cos I'm a Hufflepuff," she replied. She shot Rose a 'help me' look, but Rose seemed not to notice.

"Oh," Jenna said in a small voice, "I saw you with Malfoy during Trans so I figured you were-"

"Slytherin? Oh, no trust me, I'm a Hufflepuff."

Jenna sighed, looking even more confused, "But Slughorn referred me to you for help in Potions." She turned to James, "You told me that they don't take N.E.W.T level Potions."

It was Blanca's turn to look confused, "Who's 'they'?"

Jenna gave Blanca an embarrassed smile, "Well, James told me that most Hufflepuffs," she sighed, "that Hufflepuffs are too dumb to take something as complex as Potions. That's why I deduced you were a Slytherin, and sitting next to Malfoy kinda proved it. I guess I was the one that was being dumb, seeing as the inside of your cloak and your tie is yellow, but I did not see that during class."

Rose glared at James, "Wow James, guess you dropped the ball there."

Blanca plastered a smile on her face and turned to face James, "Potter." She muttered.

"Thomas." He replied in the same tone.

"Uh," Jenna said uncomfortably, "I think I'm getting the vibe that you two don't get along."

"You think?" Al and Rose said at the same time.

Jenna turned to face Blanca, an incredulous look on her face, "How can you not get along? James is like the funniest person I've ever met. Just get to know him better, he's so much fun!"

"Yeah, he's just precious," Blanca said sarcastically, "He's a real ray of sunshine."

"Watch it Thomas," James growled.

"Save it for the pitch Potty." She smirked, then smiling kindly to Jenna, "it's been really lovely meeting you Jenna, feel free to ask for help in Potions if you ever need to." And with that, she got up and left.

"I like her," she heard Desiree say, "she's got spirit! Are you sure she's a Hufflepuff cause..." she did not hear the rest as she neared the doors.

Once outside, Blanca released the growl she had been holding all along. How dare she think Blanca was dumb! And him, how dare he say Hufflepuffs were not smart enough? They had nerve the both of them. A bright poster a few steps away from the doors interrupted her from her anger, it was not hard to miss seeing as the walls were made of dull grey stone. She walked up to the poster and read:

FALL DANCE!

When: Friday September 28th

Where: The Great Hall

What time: 18:00hrs to 22:00hrs for First to Fourth Years, and 18:00hrs to 02:00hrs for the rest!

Why: Because we can!

What's the catch: Girls ask guys!

Blanca softly chuckled, she had a feeling that Fred and Ewan had something to do with the design of the poster. She headed to the common room with a spring in her step; at least there was something to look forward to. Her mood dampened when she found Mel in the dorm, normally, she would have been happy to see her best friend, but with her violent mood swings, it was more of burden than a treat.

"What's up?" she asked.

"The ceiling," she replied drily.

"Wow Mel, your sense of humour seems to have dropped a notch!" Blanca said playfully.

Mel gave her a small smile, it was small, but a smile nonetheless, "So, how has life in the Advanced trenches treating you?" the only Advanced class Mel had taken was Herbology, other than that, she had decided to drop everything else apart from Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Charms and D.A.D.A.

"Good. How's five subjects treating you?"

"Alright. I have a lot of free time on my hands now."

"Huh," Blanca observed, taking her jeans off and replacing them with her more comfy cotton pyjama bottoms, "So, do you want to talk about why you have been distant lately?"

Mel looked down shamefully, "I've just been having some trouble with myself. I failed half my O. and dad was on my case, he said he was really disappointed in me and the night we came back...the night we came back, I overheard him ask McGonagall why," she shuddered, "He asked why I couldn't be like you."

Blanca walked over to her bed and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, "That's just awful, but don't really take what he said to heart. You are what makes you who you are. And trust me, it really sucks to be me right now."

"Yeah, what you just said did not make any sense, but he expected more from me you know. I'm so sorry I've been nasty to you."

Blanca gave her a hug, "It's okay Mellie! At least I have my best friend back." She said as she brushed some small leaves from Mel's hair.

"Ahem. Am I interrupting something? I can always come back later." came Linda's voice from the door.

"No, not at all," Blanca said, nearly bursting to the seams with joy, "I was just going to the owlery." She said as she got off Mel's bed and went to her dresser and got a piece of parchment and a quill, playfully ruffling Linda's braids, she climbed out of the hatch door.

Blanca quickly tore the tapestry to her usual shortcut and jogged across the lamp-lit bridge to the owlery. The owlery had been dimly lit up by lamps that were roughly scattered across the walls, Blanca made a bee line for her owl Tawny, who was in her shed, she gently stroked the dark brown owl with specks of gold, the owl had a tiny splint on her wing.

"How are you Tawny?" she said kindly as she fed her owl some treats she carried in her pocket, "Hagrid has been treating you well hasn't he? I saw him a couple of days ago and he said you'd be fine in a few weeks, bloody lightning huh? I came to send a letter to dad, and because you need your rest, I'll have to use one of the Hogwarts owls okay?" she said in a baby voice.

"I knew you'd gone mental Thomas, it was just a matter of time," Blanca shuddered as she recognised James' voice from behind her. She took a deep breath and spun to face him.

"It's called affection Potter, maybe you could learn some."

James just smirked.

"Anyway, where's your girlfriend? Or shag-buddy, whichever floats your boat."

"Who says she's my girlfriend?"

"Oh come on Potter, don't act like I don't know you." She said as she strolled over to a clear surface and started to write.

James walked over to where she was standing, "No, Thomas, you don't know me."

Blanca paused for a while before turning to face him, "Okay, what do you want?"

"Nothing."

"So, why were you spying on me?"

"I wasn't spying on you Thomas, I came here for something."

"Oh, I should have guessed, you and your girlfriend were going to meet here for a quick shag right? I guess I ruined your plans." She said flatly.

"She's not my girlfriend, and why do always think sex is all I think about?"

"Because, it's all you think about, isn't it?" she said whilst writing.

"Again, Thomas, you don't know me."

"Why are you here? Aren't you too busy to speak to a dumb Hufflepuff like me?" she said, slowly losing her patience.

"I simply came to get my mail," he said, as he walked over to his owl and pulled out his mail,

"And I don't think you're dumb." He said after some thought.

"But that's what you told that Jenna girl."

"I didn't mean it that way." James snapped.

"Whatever Potter, you don't have to explain anything to me."

"Okay Thomas, tell me something. Why the hell are you always on the defensive? Can't you just chill and have a civil conversation."

"I am 'chill' and I do have civil conversations. Just not with you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're a prat." She replied.

"No, I'm not a prat."

"Tell that to the girls whose hearts you've broken."

"Hey, it's a package deal, life with James Potter; they know what they're getting into."

"And you said I didn't know you, see, James Potter equals Git."

"You don't know me Thomas, really, you don't."

Blanca folded up her letter and turned to James, "Okay, since you say I don't know who you are, who are you James Potter?" she said as she tied her letter to one of the Hogwarts owls.

James gave her a cocky smile and walked towards her, only stopping when she was pressed up against the shelves and there was only a few inches between them. "Do you really want to know who I am?" he whispered huskily.

Blanca was struggling for her breath, but she would not let him know it, she needed to get away, but her body and her mind seemed to be on parallel planes right now, "Yes," she breathed. Her mind was screaming, what are you doing? Stop it! But her mouth said, "Yes, yes I would like to know the real James."

James leaned closer, "There's a dance on the 28th, its girls ask boys, is there anything you would like to ask me?"

Blanca shot him a naughty smile that matched his, "Yes, there is something I've been dying to ask you." James smiled triumphantly and nodded for her to continue. Blanca's smile widened as she said, "Could you move aside? I would like to go to my dorm now."

James was utterly shocked, Blanca smiled even wider, her mind gave her a pat on the back, finally it had reconnected with her mouth. She looked back at him and smirked.

James looked at her, still recovering from the initial shock. "Goodnight Potter." She said on her way out. Once out of earshot, Blanca heaved a shaky breath, why did he do things like that to her? She quickly went across the bridge and rushed to the tapestry with the secret passage, Blanca tore it open and gasped at what she saw: déjà-vu was happening to her, right there, only clad in half their clothes were Lance and Lexi, kissing like there was no tomorrow. Blanca let out a tiny whimper, and Lance turned to look at her.

"Uh...eh, Blanca..." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you done looking?" Lexi drawled, "Cause we're kinda in the middle of something."

"Lexi..." Lance said, cautiously looking at Blanca as though she were a ticking bomb.

"No, no, she's right," Blanca said quietly, "I need to get going. Sorry for disturbing you and your...yeah." she said as she begun to walk away, it was then that Blanca realised that her legs had grown weak, before she could fall someone caught her and steadied her. "Oh, I must have tripped..." she started to say sunnily but stopped when she saw who had his arm around her, looking at her with concerned green eyes was James Potter.

Blanca's legs quickly found themselves again and she straightened up quickly and struggled for where to look. "James!" Lexi yelled, trying to pull her blouse closed.

"Oh come on Lexi, don't act like I've never been there before."

Lexi gasped, Lance scowled, "Watch it James, that's my girlfriend you're talking to."

"But fact is, she's gotten around before, why don't you two find a room?"

"We had a room," Lexi snapped, "before Darling over here decided to call in."

Blanca glared at her one more time before she turned on her heel and begun to walk away, it was cold in the corridors, and Blanca instantly regretted changing her jeans. She heard loud footsteps close behind her, looking at her watch, it was not past curfew yet so it couldn't be Filch. Glancing behind her, she saw that it was James, he was looking at her, she quickened her pace, and he quickened his too he finally managed to reach her and grabbed her by the wrist.

"What Potter?" she said angrily.

"I think a thankyou would be in order."

"Okay, thankyou, now let me go!" his grip did not loosen, Blanca tugged harder, but to no avail, "You're hurting me!"

"Come with me," he said, "Please." He added painstakingly. And tugging her along with him, he jogged through many corridors Blanca had never seen before, all the portraits on the walls were either asleep or engaged in hushed conversation. They had been running for nearly five minutes when Blanca abruptly stopped, nearly causing her arm to fly out of its socket. James gave her a pained look.

"I'm tired," she said, hugging her injured shoulder, "I can't go any further."

"I thought being a Quidditch player, you would be fit enough."

"Don't start with me now Potter, I'm going back to my dorm." She started to walk away, James just leaned back against the wall and waited, in a few moments, she came back, "I don't know where we are." She muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"Okay, first let's heal your shoulder." James said as he whipped out his wand.

Blanca jumped away from him, "You've brought me to an isolated part of the castle, there is no way in hell I'm going to let you near me with a wand," she said as she pulled out her wand from her pocket, "besides, my wand hand's fine, I'll heal myself thankyou very much."

And with that, she waved her wand at her shoulder and in an instant; it was as good as new.

"You've come this far Thomas, you can't go back. Come with me."

"No."

"Okay, but remember, you don't know where we are so going back is useless."

Blanca drew a troubled breath and trudged after him, "Where exactly are we?" she asked after some time.

"Somewhere in the belly of the castle, above the Slytherin dungeons below the Ravenclaw tower...we should be in the east wing...sort of ish..."

"You also don't know where we are, do you?" she asked.

"I know where we are, I just don't know where exactly in the castle we are." He said as he tore open a tapestry and let Blanca in, there was a spiral staircase and a door at the very top. When they reached the top Blanca could see the portraits of the four founders of Hogwarts, they were unmoving, just like any other muggle picture or painting.

"Still creeps me out the way they stay still." James commented.

"Don't act like you've never seen a muggle picture before." Blanca said, but James ignored her.

Pushing open the door, he said, "Here we are." Blanca walked in after him, it was a really beautiful room, the hues of red, gold, yellow and green blended perfectly against the lamplight, there was a tiny bar in the corner and a muggle gramophone with some old records sitting on a shelf. A large bookcase filled one wall and there were two doors at either side of the large fireplace.

"What is this place?" Blanca said as she sat in one of the comfy armchairs.

"This was the old head boy and head girl's dorm. We are currently in the common room."

"How did you find it? Isn't there supposed to be a password at the door?"

"Nah. There was no password, I just stumbled across it back in third year when I was running away from Filch. I've come here ever since, especially when I want to be alone." He said as he handed her a butterbeer from the bar.

Blanca took a sip, it was warm, just the way she liked it, "It's pretty cool," she said.

"Yeah, funny, every time I come here, only red and gold appear as the dominant colours. Today, I can see some green and yellow."

"That's because I'm a Hufflepuff."

"That doesn't explain the green."

"It's my favourite colour."

"You're strange, Thomas." James said as he sipped his own Firewhisky from where he was seated.

Blanca got up to study the records on the table by the window, she saw that it was all muggle music; there was a lot of jazz, swing and blues music. She could recognise a lot of singers from the 1940's among the lot, most of them American, "This room must have been used last sometime between the 1930's and the 1950's." She observed.

"How do you know that?" James asked curiously, getting up to join her.

"The music. All these were artists that were in their hey-day during those years, and they're all muggle, and most of them are American." She said whilst absent-mindedly stroking one of the records. "I'm a great big fan of today's music, but music that was made during these times will always be my favourite," she whispered.

"You seem to like that one," James said as he picked the record she was touching, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." He read slowly, he looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"It's a song Potter," she replied as she grabbed the record and put it on the record player. It spun for a few seconds and the song started to play.

After listening to some of the lyrics, James gave her a puzzled look, "It doesn't make sense."

Blanca laughed, "It's talking about a train." She said above the music.

James nodded, "Oh, now that makes sense." He watched her as she sang and danced to the song, she looked so peaceful, so happy, something that James was not used to seeing with her as every time he was near her she looked just about ready to kill him. She turned to him and did something that shocked him, "Would you like to dance?" she asked.

James nodded dumbly as she took his hands and jumped around the room with him, before they knew it, they were both laughing hysterically and were on the carpeted floor.

"That was fun," she breathed, she got up and went to remove the record.

"How did you get to know such music?" he asked.

"Well, it was back in primary school during music class, our teacher would introduce us to different music through the ages, and we would watch musical films and such. Then study the artist."

"You went to a muggle school?"

"Uh, yeah, that's where I got my literacy skills from. I thought everyone went to muggle schools before they came to Hogwarts," she said as she sat next to him, "except purebloods who want nothing to do with muggles." She added darkly.

"I never went to a muggle school," James said, "I thought you would have known by now since Rose is your best friend."

"It just never crossed my mind to ask her. Then how-"

"Just like any other normal wizarding family," James cut her short, "we were home-schooled. Can you imagine the whole Potter-Weasley bandwagon at one small muggle school? Imagine the chaos."

Blanca laughed at the thought. They stayed in silence for some time, each one absorbed in their own thoughts, Blanca was about to break the silence when James beat her to the punch.

"You know Thomas, you're the second person I've ever brought here."

Blanca looked at him for a minute before replying, "Who was the first?"

"Anna-Maria Swan." He said simply.

"Isn't she the Gryffindor in your year?"

James nodded.

Blanca felt really flattered, "Why are you being nice to me Potter?" she asked, suddenly getting suspicious.

"Because I have an idea of what you're going through."

"Which is?"

"Somebody you trusted betrayed you, they broke you heart."

"Yeah, I don't know how you would relate to that, you do the heartbreaking no? And besides, you didn't seem to have a problem with it last Thursday at the Leaky Cauldron, you actually seemed to be enjoying it."

"I'm sorry for that. I should have known better."

"Yeah, but I don't see how you can relate to how I'm feeling."

"For the fourth time tonight, you don't know me Thomas."

"Okay, who broke your heart?"

"Anna-Maria-"

"Swan." Blanca finished for him, "I should have known. She was the one you brought here."

"Yeah, it was back in fifth year, I was having the time of my life, shagging any girl I could get my hands on-" Blanca winced, James let out an impatient huff, "do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Go on, but please leave out all graphic details."

"Anyway, she came along and made me feel special. I had vowed that she would be the only one for me and I gave her my all, I remained devoted to her for more than seven months," Blanca nodded, she remembered the time when James suddenly went quiet girl-wise, "and I was beginning to think she was the one that I would spend my life with," he laughed bitterly, "long story short, she had been shagging Timothy McLaggen the whole blasted time."

"Heavy stuff," Blanca said as she accepted the bottle of Firewhisky James offered her, "and you took it upon yourself to come back in full swing and sleep with as many girls as possible."

"Pretty much yes."

"That's stupid."

"But that way, emotions don't get in the way of things. It's called casual sex for a reason, try it, you'll see."

"No thanks." Blanca replied.

"You're gonna die a virgin Thomas."

"Who says I'm a virgin?"

"You just proved it right now; virgins always get defensive when the topic comes up."

"Shut up Potter," she slurred, she was getting tipsy, and she could feel her head going lighter by the minute. She leaned her head on his chest and asked, "So, Jenna Hart, do you like her?"

"Why are you obsessed with Jenna?"

"I am not obsessed," she said.

"Jealous then?"

"Maybe." She replied.

"Of what?"

"Of the fact that she gets to have you the whole fucking time, of the way she laughs at your jokes, of the way you look at her," Blanca's mouth spilled.

James laughed, "I thought you hated me."

"I do. I hate you more than anything on the planet."

"Then why does it bother you that I'm with Jenna?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly, "Tell me something, why did you kiss me the other night?"

"I don't know," James answered, "why did you let me?"

"You're doing crazy things to me Potter," Blanca said weakly.

"No, Thomas, you're the one that's driving me up the wall." His face was only inches away from hers.

"I hate you, James Potter." She whispered.

"I hate you more, Blanca Thomas," he said, and he captured her mouth with his.

Blanca was taken aback when he did this but in a few moments, she kissed him back with the same fire he had, their mouths mingled for a while before James' tongue prodded her bottom lip, she let him in and allowed him to explore her mouth, James was feverishly letting his hands slide up and down her waist as she rolled over so she could be on top of him.

"What are we doing?" she breathed.

"I have no fucking clue," came the reply as he kissed her even harder, his hands felt hot through the thin fabric of her pyjama bottoms and she could feel the effect she had on him between his legs as she grinded her hips against him. Blanca's heart was racing a million miles a minute, and so was her mind, what was she doing? A large ringing sound brought her back to her senses, it was the clock above the fireplace, it had struck midnight and was making an awful din. Immediately, she and James separated, jumping away from each other as if they had been stung.

"Oh god," Blanca had her face in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, "You're asking what's wrong? I was just about to sleep with you! I'm not supposed to do that!"

He went up to her and held her by the shoulders, "You think I'm enjoying this too? No! I'd rather be out there shagging a hot blonde or two, instead, every time I get the chance to, your stupid face comes in the picture!"

"So are you saying that you only wanted to bed me because you're desperate?" Blanca said angrily.

"Of course not! I didn't mean it in that way." He scoffed, then suddenly looking serious, "Let's just pretend this never happened and get out of here and back to our normal lives."

"

Agreed."

Their way back was uncomfortably silent as each was absorbed in their thoughts, both trying to make sense of what had happened, they finally reached a place that Blanca could recognise and she spoke up, "I think I can find my way from here."

James nodded hastily, he put his hands in his pocket and cocked his head to one side,

"Thomas, can we keep what had happened a secret?"

"And why would I speak of it?"

"So it's a deal?"

"You bet." She said as she shook his hand, she turned to walk away when she stopped,

"And Potter?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I hate you."

"I hate you too," was the last thing Blanca heard as she disappeared round the bend.

Al was sitting in the common room, it was after supper and Blanca had just run out after her spat with James and Jenna, leaving them all in the Great Hall. It had been the first time that week that he had seen her and he had to say he had missed her a lot, she was like a sister to him and he did not like anyone messing with her.

"It's really nice that the prefects decided to do a dance before the Halloween ball eh?" Max said to him, she was curled up next to him, flipping through the Witch Weekly.

"Yeah, it is," he said while absent mindedly twirling a bit of her hair with his forefinger.

"Look at this," she said while putting the magazine in his face, "it's Blanca's father, he's in the Witch Weekly."

Al took the magazine and focused his eyes on the page Max was pointing to, in headlines it was written: "BRITISH BROOM MOGUL SINGLE NO MORE". Under the headline was a picture of Dean and a very beautiful woman walking in the street, probably oblivious to the fact that they were being photographed.

The story read: _It has been nearly thirteen years since Dean Thomas was widowed, and ever since the tragic incident, the Broom Boss had remained single. Well, that is no more because reliable sources tell us that the father of one has now left his single life and is currently seeing Canadian born model Camille Jacobson. Our sources reveal that millionaire Thomas, who started his mega empire by opening a broom repair store seventeen years ago, is now quitting his single life to finally settle down. Thomas (42) and Jacobson (36) had reportedly been seeing each other in secret for almost a year now until Jacobson finally went public about the relationship in an interview. Rumour has it that the couple may move in together._

"_Of course, in a larger house, not the little apartment above the shop," a source reports, as Thomas has been living on top of his shop with his daughter and though he can afford a mansion of his own, decided to stay there upon insistence of his daughter, Jacobson says in an interview. When asked if there will be any new children in the picture, "We'll wait and see what happens," was the response we got from this Canadian beauty. _

"_It's high time Casablanca had a mother figure in her life," says a source that claims to be close to the Thomas family. _

_Casablanca Thomas, his only daughter is currently in her sixth year at Hogwarts, the Hufflepuff Quidditch prodigy is said to be on the shortlist of the students that major Quidditch teams such as the Ballycastle Bats and the Holyhead Harpies will be keeping an eye out for._

"_The Thomas girl is definitely one we're going to going to be seeing a lot of in the Quidditch world." Says a Quidditch insider._

_Well, we are speculating whether we will be hearing wedding bells any time soon, which will make it two weddings of the season, seeing as Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley are set to wed this winter. The Weasley-Potter family, who are very close to the Thomas family have refused to comment on anything involving the wedding of the year._

_Below you will see some pictures of Thomas, his daughter and possibly the newest member of this family, Camille Jacobson._

Below the story were pictures of Blanca in her Quidditch uniform, Blanca and her father, Dean with Harry and Ron, Dean with Seamus and Neville, Dean holding a broom, Dean with the president of the World Quidditch Association, Dean with the Minister of Magic. The other pictures were high glamour photos of Camille Jacobson.

Albus finished reading the magazine, "Oh Merlin, this can't be good." he half-whispered.

"What?" Maxime asked.

"We need to keep this from her, well at least until she hears it from her father himself," Al said, whilst rolling up the magazine, "Do you know anyone else that has a copy?"

"My aunt is close friends with the editor in chief, so she gets a copy a week in advance," Max replied, "see, this one's set for publication next week Wednesday."

Al heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank Merlin."

"But don't you think he would have told her by now?"

Al shook his head, "She would have said something to me or Rose, no, he probably planned to tell her later."

"Maybe we could write to him and ask what's up?" Max suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, come on," he heaved her on his shoulder, "Let's go."

Max giggled, "Put me down," she squealed amid laughter.

Al set her down and kissed her gently, she had the most beautiful hazel eyes which twinkled all the time, "Okay, let's go."

Before they could open the portrait door, Jenna burst in, "Hey! Have you seen James?"

Al shook his head, "No, I thought he was with you."

Jenna puffed impatiently, "Where the hell could he be? We've got stuff to do," she pushed past them and entered the common room.

"Strange eh?" Max said as the portrait closed behind them, "they've never been out of each other's sight since day one."

"Imagine that," Al said, "you have the quill and parchment right?"

"Yeah, they're in my pocket. Let's hurry, its cold out here."

They rushed to the owlery and Al quickly wrote a letter to Dean telling him about what he had read and asked if Blanca knew what was going on, asking for feedback, he sealed the letter and attached it to his owl.

"Are you done?" said a shivering Max, "Remember I'm only wearing shorts. It's unusually cold today," she said, whilst hugging her sweater closer to her chest.

"Sorry love," he said, "I'm done, we can go." He held her face between his hands and kissed her, a cough behind them made them break apart.

Behind them, Calvin Watterson stood there, quill and parchment in hand, a comical expression on his face, "Uh, sorry I hope I wasn't disturbing anything." He said.

"No, not at all," Al responded, "just came to send a letter."

"Yeah, me too," Calvin said as he scratched the back of his head, "by the way, have you seen Thomas anywhere?"

"No, why?" Al said, suddenly worried.

"Longbottom said she came out here to send a letter, but that was a half hour ago and she still isn't back yet," Calvin explained.

"Maybe you just missed her," Max said.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Alright then," Al said as he and Max left the owlery.

They walked back to the castle in silence, once in, Max commented, "You know what's really strange, the fact that James and Blanca are both missing."

"What, do you think they are together somewhere?"

"It could be possible," Max replied.

"That would be very scary, because those two together in the same place, alone, could result to serious casualties."

They rounded a corner and Max carried on about what she could come dressed as for the Halloween ball, "I was thinking maybe I could be a muggle fortune teller, like those in the muggle movies," she was saying, "or maybe I could be a cat or maybe- oh mother of Merlin," she gasped as the most unlikely pair dashed past them, "is that-"

"James and Blanca, yes," Al stared in awe as James and Blanca rushed past them, holding hands for that matter.

"This just got even weirder," Max said, "come on, let's get to bed. Long day tomorrow."

"What about the two?" Al asked, "aren't you worried?"

"They are grownups Al, and if they haven't injured themselves by now, they probably won't."

"What about Blanca?" Al protested.

"She'll be fine, aren't you the one that said she's lethal with a wand."

"But we could follow them-"

"Al, I'm tired!" Max snapped, "it's already too late to follow them now, at the rate they're going, we couldn't even if we tried."

"But-" he stopped when he saw the glare he received from him girlfriend, "fine, I'll follow up tomorrow."

"That's more like it," she said as she pulled him along, Al couldn't help but glance back in the direction where they ran in.

Once back in the common room, which was empty, except for a few first years that were playing exploding snap, Al mumbled something about going to bed.

"Al," it was Jenna, she had been sitting in a corner by the fire, and would have gone unnoticed hadn't she spoken, "have you seen him yet?"

Al shook his head, "No, I haven't."

Once in the dorm, he was instantly attacked by Fred, "Hey!" Al yelled.

"Sorry mate," Fred said, "I thought you were Ewan."

"Go away, this is not your dorm anyway," Al snapped.

Fred feigned hurt, "My own cousin is kicking me out," he said backing out of the room.

Al sat on his bed and massaged him temples, there was just too much going on for him to process, a few minutes later, Ewan came in, laughter drawn all over his face, "Allo Al!" he said as he flopped in his bed.

"Fred was in here, he came for your head," Al said.

"Jus met 'im on me way 'ere! He was in the library with Rosie when I sort of glued 'is arse to the chair!"

"Interesting." Al commented.

"Y'know what's interesting, Rosie asked me to go to the dance with her, I think she fancies me," he said self-contentedly.

Al laughed, "Yeah, um I don't think that's the case, but if you insist..."

"Naw, don' be jealous Al!"

Al chuckled, "Goodnight Ewan." After he drew the drapes he quickly scrambled for the Marauder's map which was in his robe pocket. "Remember to always keep this safe, away from prying eyes," his father had told him when he gave it to him in Third year, "especially from your brother, you know what he would do if he knew about it."

Albus unrolled the piece of old parchment, he was glad his father had entrusted it to him, no one knew he had it and he only used it during emergencies. Well, Blanca had run off somewhere with James, that was a bonafide emergency, taking his wand out, he tapped the parchment and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Instantly, the parchment was filled with the map of the castle, he could see Lance coming back to the dorm, he could see Filch in his office, it was a tiny broom cupboard but he insisted it be called his office, he saw some of his friends but no Blanca and James. They couldn't be in the room of requirement because they ran in the opposite direction, so where were they? He searched for Mel's footsteps, they were in the Hufflepuff dorm, but Blanca's were not present there, searching for Rose's in hope that she would be there, Al was unsuccessful, but something that he saw shocked him beyond belief. Right next to Rose's footsteps were Scorpius', they were in an empty classroom, Al wondered why the two would be together, and just what they would be doing. Rose did not have a detention, at least none that Al knew about, and normally, detentions were not served in empty classrooms, not wanting to jump to conclusions, something which he had inherited from his father, Al quickly pointed his wand at the parchment and whispered, "Mischief complete." He put the parchment back in his robe pocket and turned on his side, staring at the cold wall opposite him; just then, he heard the door open, and two pairs of noisy footsteps shuffled in.

"What's wrong mate?" he heard Alexander Wood say.

"Nothing," came Lance's voice.

"Fine, but you haven't said a word since you came back."

"It's just, you know, Lexi and I were at it-"

"Ah, sexy Lexi," Wood said playfully, "you are one lucky bastard."

"I don't know mate," Lance said, "anyway, Blanca kind of stumbled in on us."

"Ooooh, the ex girlfriend strikes again," Wood said.

"No, she actually did nothing about it, she just stood there and looked as though she was going to pass out," Lance said, confusion written all over his voice.

"Strange," Wood said, "the Thomas I know would have jinxed the two of you into the next century."

"No, she did nothing, and then James walked in, it looked like he was following her, she ran out. Then after Lexi ran out too- she too was upset- James turns to me and says if either me or Lexi hurt her again, we'll regret it big time, and he walks away." Al could have gasped at this, but since he was eavesdropping, it was smarter to keep quiet.

"Potter. James Potter said that to you," Wood coughed.

"Yeah, he did. Shocking, since he seemed to be enjoying watching Blanca suffer last Thursday at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Weird, they're supposed to hate each other those two. But listen to us Lance, gossiping as though we were Rhiannon Giggs and her posse, it's only James, he probably was drunk when he said that."

"That's not what bothered me, I can take on James any day."

"So, what's got your underwear in a bunch?"

"It's Blanca. I don't think I'm over her yet."

Al bubbled over in anger, how dare he, after what he had put her through, he bit his lip till it was raw so he could refrain from lunging out at Lance.

"But you've got Lexi. Sexy Lexi mate! Are you out of your mind?"

"It's only physical between Lexi and I. Blanca was the real deal, we could talk about stuff, and she knew me, she loved me for who I am. I don't know if Lexi even knows my birthday."

"Let me tell you this mate, she won't take you back," Wood said matter-of-factly.

"I know mate, I screwed up real bad."

Al decided he could not stand to hear anymore, setting a silencing spell that would make him deaf to anything that was outside the confines of his bed, he turned over and waited for sleep to come.


	11. Chapter 11

Slug Clubbing

Blanca was in Rose's dorm, they were getting ready for the first Slug Club meeting of the school year, it had now been tradition that every second Friday of the term, the members met with old Slughorn. Horace Slughorn had still continued with his tradition of collecting 'promising' students and adding them to his beloved club whether they liked it or not. He was still head of Slytherin House, and even though his post as Potions master had been taken by a younger professor, he was still resident at Hogwarts, and Blanca, Scorpius, together with the Granger-Weasleys, the Potter-Weasleys and the Delacour-Weasleys and a number of other students were all recruited in his 'elite' club.

"You look so pretty Rose!" Blanca was saying as Rose twirled around in her emerald green dress robes.

"I look like the queen of Slytherin," Rose giggled, and winked at Blanca, who knew what the private joke was.

"Are you done?" Lexi asked from behind them.

"Not yet, why?" Rose asked.

"I need to use the mirror."

"But there's another one at the other end of the room," Rose replied.

"That one doesn't catch the right light," Lexi replied as she pushed between the two and examined herself in the mirror, she wore a figure hugging red dress that looked very hot, even though Blanca would have never in a million years admitted it.

"What's the occasion?" Blanca asked, trying to sound casual.

"Slug club," Lexi replied whilst curling her waist length raven hair, "Lance is taking me as his date."

"Of course he is," Blanca muttered as she applied some lip gloss.

"You don't look so bad yourself Thomas," Lexi said, "I like the outfit."

Blanca gave a tight lipped smile, "Thanks." She studied her reflection, she was clad in a long loose midnight blue dress robe, something that she bought in case of events like this; it was not much, but her defined curves filled it in the right places and made it look elegant.

"So," Lexi continued, it seemed like she wanted to stay civil today, "who are you going with?"

"No one, I'm going solo," Blanca replied as she went over to help Rose tame her wild red locks.

"That's a shame, why not?"

"I don't think it's a shame," Blanca said, "I just have no one special to take."

"What about your friend, Melanie Longbottom?"

"She had extra Herbology today, she probably just got back from the greenhouses."

Lexi sighed, "I know Lance would have been your date if it hadn't been for me, I just want to let you know that I wish things did not have to end that way between-"

"Save it, please," Blanca replied, "Lance was last season's news. You two deserve each other, so there is no point in feeling sorry for me or whatever," Blanca said as politely as she could.

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

Rose rolled her eyes and Blanca let out an involuntary giggle, before Lexi could ask what was funny, Jenna walked in, wearing a long silver gown, her eyes were lined in shimmery silver and she had a hot pink lipstick on, her hair flowed behind her and she had a happy smile on her face. "So, what do y'all think?" she asked, which was followed by oooooh's and aaah's from the girls, she blushed and said, "I didn't know what to wear, so I finally threw this on."

"Is that a witch's dress robe?" Wendy Vane asked.

"Yeah, it's a witch's robe," Jenna replied.

"Well, it's different..." Wendy said.

"It's a Liliana Wickstead gown," she said meekly, "She does muggle-inspired dress robes."

"High fashion," Blanca agreed, "it's really pretty, you look lovely."

"Aw, thanks," came the reply.

"So, let me guess," Wendy said, "you're going with James right?" she wiggled her eyebrows at Jenna.

"Just as friends," Jenna confirmed.

"Yeah, right," Wendy slurred, "no one is 'just friends' with James Potter."

"Well, I am," Jenna replied, "believe what you want, James and I are just 'mates' as you may say here."

Blanca got up, turning to Rose, she said, "I'm done, are you coming?"

"I'll be there later, I've got a little Slytherin issue I need to attend to," she whispered.

Blanca stepped out into the common room and immediately had to duck so as to avoid a spell that went flying across the room, "Barbarians," she muttered under her breath. From the corner of her eye, she saw a laughing Ewan and a furious looking Fred in hot pursuit of the former. She was just about to make it to the portrait door when she was stopped by Al, he was with Max, she had her brown hair was set in tiny frizzy curls and pretty dress robes, Blanca thought she might have looked beautiful had it not been for the harassed expression on her face.

"Hi Al, Max," Blanca smiled.

"Hey Blanca," Al said, Max just gave her a curt smile, "I was in the owlery and your hatch was full, so I picked your mail up for you, I hope you don't mind." He said as he handed her a number of envelopes.

"Oh, no of course I don't mind. Thanks, I've been expecting mail from my dad anyway," she said as she got the envelopes, she noticed that Al was shifting from foot to foot, something he did when he was nervous, she read the envelopes, one was from the Ministry, one was from her father and the last was from the Witch Weekly, "the Witch Weekly, I'm not subscribed to them, why would I be receiving mail from them?" she muttered under her breath.

She opened the one from the ministry, it was about a scholarship to the school of Herbology in Peru and how she could apply if she was interested, she quickly folded it back and opened the one from her father, it read; _My Funny Little Hufflepuff, I'm glad to hear that the first week of school was 'alright', as you put it, and that your first game of the season is with Gryffindor, good luck. There is someone I would like you to meet, so could you meet me at Three Broomsticks at nine tomorrow? It's really important that you do, I'll explain everything else there. Love, Dad._

Blanca read the letter over and over again, it had a sense of urgency she could not place, usually, her father's letters were long and full of humour and unnecessary details. She went on to open the letter from the Weekly but was stopped by Al, "Erm, we're probably late for Slug Club!" he said.

"But no one's even left yet!" Blanca protested.

"All the good seats will be taken," Al said, it was a shot in the dark, but it seemed to have hit the target because Blanca set the letter down and got up, "Here," he said, "Let me take those, you look like you don't have enough room on your robes," and before Blanca could say anything back, he grabbed the letters and swiftly put them in his pocket.

They walked in silence to Slughorn's office in silence, the trip only interrupted by Peeves trying to drop stink bombs singing "It's Friday the 13th! I feel a lot of bad luck coming!"

Slughorn's office had been charmed to hold about a hundred people and there were drapes in all four house colours streaming all across the room, there were tables lined with food and at the furthest end of the room was Slughorn sitting in one of his poofy armchairs, he was speaking to a bored looking Antonio Zabini. There were a few other students scattered across the room but no one Blanca spoke to, the three quickly moved to the corner where they could find a table that could give them more privacy but they did not move quickly enough as Blanca heard Slughorn call out her name.

"Ah! Is that Blanca Thomas I see over there!" he said from his perch.

Blanca slowly turned around to face him, "Help me," she hissed to Al, who laughed and said, "I'm sorry but you're on your own on this one." And with that, he and Max went to their table.

Blanca slowly made her way to the head table where Slughorn was grinning brightly, "Blanca, just the person I wanted to see!"

"Good evening professor," she said politely, turning to Antonio, she nodded and said, "Zabini."

"You see Blanca, Antonio and I were just discussing where the Zabini empire would be heading in terms of constructing a new broom model." Blanca glanced at Antonio, who had a slight grimace on his face; like Dean, Blaise Zabini had decided to go into the broom business, after Hogwarts, he spent a good amount of the Zabini fortune to invest in the Nimbus and Cleansweep broom manufacturing companies and years later, became one of the head share holders, which gave him a say on what models went through and which changes would be made to the brooms.

"Oh, were you now?" Blanca replied, trying to sound as interested as possible.

"Yes, now, we were discussing the prospects of vintage brooms and it just so happened that I read on Quidditch Today that you and your father had taken a trip to Prague for a convention on vintage brooms. So, what were your views on bringing the vintage broom back?"

"Well," Blanca started, trying to give the quickest answer she could, "if the vintage broom had to be brought back, I think it could be best used as a status symbol rather than a sports item, because I don't think I for one would want to use a Cleansweep 90 for a Quidditch match," she paused as Slughorn laughed at the example, "but when you put collectors into consideration, the vintage broom could be a success. Especially when it's treated with exclusivity because again, when something is thrown out into the public in bulk, it loses its 'star' quality."

Slughorn nodded thoughtfully, "True, true," he muttered.

Blanca smiled, "What do you think Zabini?"

"Well, what you said makes sense, but what if the broom was modified to fit modern Quidditch requirements? Like take a Cleansweep 90 and give it the properties of the Nimbus Tornado?" Antonio replied, Blanca had to bite her tongue to hold back a gasp; this was practically the first time she heard him speak since Second year, and his voice had a thunderous rumble to it that was not present back then.

"Um, doesn't that defeat the whole entire process of having an original vintage item? Because it won't be the same if it's modified," Blanca countered.

"Ah, a debate, I like a healthy discussion like this," Slughorn said, Antonio rolled his eyes but this was not seen as Slughorn had turned his gaze to James and Jenna, who had just walked in, "isn't that the new student from the Americas?" he asked.

"Sir, they haven't called it the Americas since the 1600's," Antonio said quietly, but Slughorn did not hear him as he called out to the two that had just come in.

"I think now would be the time to escape," Blanca whispered to him, he nodded and they both went as far away from Slughorn's table as they possibly could.

"Well, that was a bore," Antonio said.

"Well put Zabini," Blanca agreed, "and I must say, nice to meet you again after four years."

"Same here," he said, his heavily lashed dark eyes scanning the room.

"Looking for someone?" she asked.

"Looking for two people actually," he replied, "Scorpius and Pepper."  
Blanca understood why Antonio would be looking for Scorpius, they had been best friends since forever, but, "Why Pepper?" she asked.

"She's my," he raised his eyebrows at Blanca, "Pepper and I are..."

Blanca had never seen anyone look so uncomfortable with explaining their relationship status, so, deciding to have fun with the situation, she played dumb; after all, Hufflepuffs were not the sharpest tools in the shed. Blinking and shaking her head, she said, "She's your...?"

"Come on Thomas, do I have to explain it to you?" he said.

"I don't get it," she said.

If Antonio had gone red, there was no way of telling, but he looked fairly annoyed, "Are you all this annoying?"

"Who is 'you all'?" she bit her trembling bottom lip, "And we're not annoying, whoever we are, it's very hurtful you know?"

Antonio looked panicked, like he did not know what to do with crying girls, "She's my girlfriend okay!" he held her by the shoulders, "And don't cry! I didn't mean it like that," she said hastily.

Blanca burst out laughing, which made Antonio frown even more, "Why didn't you just say it in the beginning?" she said.

"So, you knew all along," he hissed, "why didn't you-"

"I wanted you to say it."

"Well that's not very funny Thomas. If that's your idea of a joke, then..." he trailed off.

"I'm sorry," she said, "by the way, lovely choice of girlfriend," she said sarcastically.

"Hey! Pepper's not all bad," Antonio retorted.

"Whatever you say man, anyway, speaking of Scorpius, I think he is with-" she stopped mid-sentence, shit! She thought. Again, her mouth and her brain decided it was time to play Marco-Polo.

"Rose Weasley," Antonio replied calmly.

"Oh, so you know," Blanca said.

"Scorpius." Antonio said simply, "I told him it was a bad idea, but he was stubborn."

"Bad idea? I think it's a suicide mission!" Blanca exclaimed.

"You know what's a suicide mission?" a nasal voice sneered from behind them, "you fraternising with my boyfriend."

Blanca grimaced and turned to face Pepper, she was clad in a short black dress that left little to the imagination, "Hello Parkinson." Blanca said.

"Listen Thomas, I know that your boyfriend dumped you over the summer, smart choice by the way as I saw him in that tramp Lexi Prince's boobs just now, and if I were a boy, I would pick her too." She whispered in Blanca's ear.

Blanca smiled, "Well, if that's the case, all you need is an organ transplant, cause you have the beard and man hands for it already," she replied coolly, turning to Antonio, she said, "Well Zabini, it's been nice, we should do this again sometime." She winked at him, knowing that it would only anger Pepper some more, Antonio just smiled clumsily.

"Stay away from us," Clover hissed, "all of us, Antonio, Frida, Yasmina, Scorpius, all of us! Stay. Away."

Blanca just threw her head back and walked away, she went to the bar and called for the bartender, who happened to be Ewan.

"'Allo cousin!" he said cheerily.

Blanca smiled, "Is there anything you don't do?"

"I can't fall pregnant," Ewan said, then taking up a very thoughtful expression, he said mystically, "but someday, I'll find a solution for that."

"Of course you will," she muttered under her breath, "okay, I want something to drink, something strong, possibly illegal."

"A triple Firewhisky?"

"Something stronger, give me the baddest thing you have."

Ewan got a mischievous look on his face, "'Ow would you like a shot of Devil's Brew?"

"What's that?"

"It's a little something I whipped up for James an' the boys, of course ol' Sluggy 'as no clue about it, I'm not suppos'd to give anyone else buh since I love ewe like a sister, 'ere you go," he pulled out a tiny black glass that had a green liquid swirling in it.

"What's in here?" Blanca asked.

"I'd rather not tell ya."

"Bottoms up Finnigan," she said as she downed the drink, it was bitter yet sweet, and burned like acid as it trickled down her throat, "if I die, I'll come back to haunt you." She said as she swivelled off of the stool she was seated on.

Blanca scanned the room, Rose was not back yet and Al seemed busy with Max, or busy with Max's tongue would be the more exact thing to say. She did not speak to half the people in the room and one quarter were either too annoying or too boring to speak to, and she did not feel like speaking to the other quarter, so, calling it a night, she began to make her way back to the dorm, after all, she had shown her face and that was all that was required for this dumb club right?

Before she could leave the room, she was stopped by a sheepish looking Lance, "What do you want Jordan?" she slurred.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure thing, let's just talk right?"

"I'm serious Blanca," he said, "let's go somewhere more private."

"Actually, I'd rather you called me Thomas," she said, "and I don't think us being somewhere alone is such a good idea, what will your girlfriend think?"

"She's not my girlfriend anymore," he said, in almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Blanca asked.

"Lexi and I, we broke up. It just wasn't working between us," he said.

"Wow, Jordan, five weeks! That's a new record for you!" she said, "Poor girl, she got all dressed up just for a break up. But let me not say much, I got all dressed up just to meet a break up as well," she said, her mouth was rambling and Blanca could feel the alcohol going to her brain.

"I'm sorry, Blanca. I made a terrible mistake, that's why I broke up with her," he said pleadingly, "What we had, you and I, it was real, and Lexi and I didn't just have that."

"What are you saying Jordan?" she said.

"I would like you to give me a second chance B," he held her hands in his, "I miss you. I was stupid to treat you that way, please take me back," he said, "I swear I will never act like an arse again."

Blanca took her hands away from his and touched his face affectionately, "Oh Lance," she sighed.

He held her hand where it had rested on his cheek and whispered, "So, are we as good as new?"

"Quite the opposite," her voice hardened as she abruptly dropped her arm, "I am not some old doormat you can go back to after you've had fun with your latest toy, It's too late to come back now."

"Huh?"

"I can't take you back, Jordan, you hurt me and you expect me to just come back? I'm sorry, but I've moved on." And with that, she walked away. Sitting at an empty table, she buried her face in her hands.

"Why isn't it Thomas," James voice whispered in her ear.

"Go away Potter, I'm drunk."

"I like you better when you're drunk, you're more fun that way."

"Sod off."

"Come on, just one dance, please," he pleaded.

"Ah, what's the use?" she said as she took his hand and let him lead her to the dancefloor.

"So, why so drunk so early? I thought you were a goody-two-shoes," he whispered in her ear.

"The best person to ask would be Ewan Finnigan," she replied, "do me a favour, sober me up."

"Hell no. I like you when you're drunk, besides, I thought you don't trust me with a wand."

"Whatever Potter, just do it!"

He led her away from the crowd and waved his wand at her, she felt very cold and her hands were clammy, "What did you do to me Potter?"

"It's a sober up spell, I believe you have never used one before, but if you're going to be drinking Devil's Brew, you're gonna have to get used to it."

"How did you know what I was drinking?"

"Your mouth reeked of it," he said.

Blanca involuntarily had her hand fly to her mouth, "Oh shit!"

"Don't worry," he said, "the smell's gone. Do you want to go back to the dancefloor now?"

The dancefloor looked much brighter than before, and Blanca realised that people were staring, "People are looking," she whispered nervously.

"Of course they're looking, I'm hot!"

Blanca playfully slapped his arm, "Vain prick!"

"Hey, I'm James Potter, I'm quite special."

"So, what do you want?"

"What do you mean?" James asked innocently, "I'm just a boy asking a girl for a dance."

"While his super hot date just sits there?" Blanca asked, "Seriously Potter, you've lied better before."

"I know I should have kept you drunk! Okay, so about what happened last night-"

"I thought we said we wouldn't speak of it."

"So you haven't told anyone?" James asked, Blanca shook her head, James glanced back at Jenna, who was speaking to some Seventh years, "Not even Rose?"

"Believe it or not, the last time I got to see Rose alone was before that...though I saw her earlier, but she hasn't put in an appearance yet."

"She's probably with that Malfoy kid," James growled.

"Why are you asking?" Blanca asked.

"I think someone told Jenna, she's been moody and has been dropping hints that she knows we were together."

"Firstly, I thought those passages were secrets known only to you, and secondly, why so bothered? I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend."

"That doesn't mean I don't want to make her my girlfriend."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that?"

"Shut up Thomas, don't you see this is serious?"

"I think that was your fault, you said the passages were completely secret."

"How don't I know that it was you who went squealing to your girlfriends?"

"Why would I want to publicise something as repulsive as that Mr-always-drunk-enough-to let-slip-the-common-room-password-to-anyone-close-enough!"

"I tell you Thomas, don't ruin this for me."

"Ruin what? Your budding relationship with Jenna Hart, yeah I think that car went under the bridge the time you came and asked me to dance with you." Dropping her hands to her sides, she said coldly, "Goodnight Potter." And with that, she walked away.

Al sat at his table and patiently listened as Max described her Christmas ball gown for the umpteenth time. Dominique and her new friend Desiree had come to join them earlier, and Al was fine with that, until Marsha spotted Dom there and she and her friends quickly changed camp, so now they had been joined by Fifth Years Carrie Prince, Marsha Jones, Lauren Barks, Zainab Singh, and Katy Cornish who was from Ravenclaw, and they were all giggling like little girls. "Uh, I'm sorry girls but where are your dates?" Al asked, not bothering to be polite.

"Al!" Max lightly slapped his arm, "he didn't mean it."

Al just raised his eyebrows. Before anything else was said, Rhiannon practically came running to their table, "And along came Lavender Brown, Rita Skeeter and Pansy Parkinson," Al muttered under his breath.

"You guys will not believe what just happened," she gasped.

"What?" Marsha asked.

"Believe me, you will not believe it!" Rhiannon said.

"Well, get on with it already!"

"I tell you, you won't even believe it!"

"Are you going to tell us or not?" Max snapped.

"Okay, I was coming from the loo when I heard Lance and Lexi talking, at first, I thought they were just messing around but then it struck me, he was breaking up with her!"

"What!" Carrie said.

"Yeah, he told her that it had been fun, but his heart belonged to someone else, then he said that they couldn't be together anymore; next thing I knew, Lexi was running off to Merlin knows where!"

"Oh my god! Lexi!" Carrie said as she jumped off her seat and left in hot pursuit of her sister.

"Well, that was something," Rhiannon said as she took the chair Carrie had been sitting on.

"He is such a prick that Lance Jordan!" Marsha spat.

"I wonder who he was referring to when he said his heart belonged to someone else," Max marvelled, she turned to Al, "you're dormmates, you may have an idea."

"I don't talk to Jordan much," Al muttered quickly.

"Well, that was sad for Lexi," Dominique said, "one month, that's even shorter than his relationship with Blanca."

"It's scary how no one sticks together these days," Zainab said with a shudder.

"Maybe James and Jenna will make it, they are both hot, popular and they're the whole package!" Rhiannon said.

"Yeah sure, but Jenna insists that she and James are just mates." Marsha said.

"Yeah right, that's what they all say," Rhiannon said, "What do you think Desiree, Jenna's your sister, she must have said something."

Desiree gave a tight lipped smile and shook her head, "I don't know," turning to Dominique, she whispered, "it's been great hanging out with you and all but I gotta jump." And with that, she got up and left.

"Where'd she go?" Marsha asked.

"None of your business," Dom replied flatly.

"Whatever," Lauren said, "Al, you're James' brother, I'm sure he would tell you something."

"Lauren, I'm not my brother's keeper," Al replied coolly.

"Just asking," she said, "why so touchy all of a sudden?"

"Speaking of James and being touchy," Marsha said breathlessly, "there he is," she pointed with a shaky finger.

Al followed her gaze and nearly choked on his own spit when he saw what she was talking about. There on the dancefloor, James and Blanca stood, Blanca had her arms around James and they were dancing and whispering things in each other's ears, then, when Blanca looked like she was going to kiss him, but quickly walked out of the room, there were gasps from the girls around him but Al ignored them all.

"That was quite a show." Marsha said.

"Yeah," Dom agreed, "James and Blanca, who would have known?"

"But what about Jenna?" Zainab asked.

"Yeah, she's ruining everything!" Lauren said.

"Don't worry," Rhiannon said, "I guess it was just a simple, friendly dance."

"But Thomas and James aren't friends," Katy said.

"Well last night-" Max started but stopped when Al nudged her.

"Well, he can't like, fancy Thomas," Zainab said.

"Yeah," Marsha chimed in, "especially when opposed to someone like Jenna Hart, I mean, no offence but like Jenna is way better looking than Thomas."

At this point, Dom and Max struggled for where to look, clearly not comfortable with the conversation at hand, Al, on the other hand continued to listen to the conversation, eyebrows going higher and higher up his forehead with every word muttered.

"And let's face it girls," Rhiannon said, "Jenna is just better for James, she's the entire package! She's got class, she's smart and she knows she's old enough to stop playing on brooms, which, for some reason, Thomas hasn't realised."

"You mean Quidditch?" Max asked in a small voice, "But she's really good."

"But you know what we say girls that still play Quidditch after fourth year..." Zainab said.

"Either homo, ugly, or loser," Lauren said matter-of-factly.

"Hey! I resent that!" Marsha said, "You know my Great-Aunt Gwen played Quidditch most of her life."

"But I thought you hated her," Rhiannon said, looking confused.

"Well, I don't like her, but she's still family."

"Whatever," Katy said, with a flip of her blonde hair, "we're talking about Thomas here."

"But she managed to date Lance Jordan," Dom said, "and we know he wouldn't just go for anyone."

"Well that was a fluke," Lauren said, "and he realised his mistake."

"After six months?" Max asked incredulously.

"I think she slipped him a love potion," Zainab whispered.

"I think not!" Max retorted.

"Who's side are you on Maxime? Hers or ours?" Lauren asked, bobbing her head so much that her overlong black bangs fell over her eyes.

"Al, where are you going?" Max asked Al, who was getting up from his seat.

"I need some air," he said, turning to the girls, he said, "Oh, and by the way, Jenna Hart, yeah, she tried out for the team and made starting chaser." And he walked away.

"What's with him?" Rhiannon asked.

"Really Rhi? Really?" Max asked.

"What?"

"You let him sit here as you verbally trashed one of his best friends," Max snapped.

"Well, who told him to sit here?" Lauren asked.

"I think it's you who found us here," Max said angrily, "now excuse me, I've gone to find my boyfriend."

"Doesn't it bother you that he cares that much about her?" Zainab asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He's left you here, and you're his girlfriend, but he's probably gone into the Merlin-knows-where to look for her and make sure she's okay." Katy said.

"They've been friends since first year, their relationship is obviously really strong, there's nothing wrong with that!" Max retorted.

"I think he likes her more than you," Lauren said solemnly.

"He does not! Well, it's different!" Max raised her arms in the air, "Dom! Say something!"

Dominique, who had been quiet this whole time looked up from her drink, "What?"

"Tell these people that the relationship between Blanca and Al is completely normal, you've known them practically your whole life!"

Dom lowered her gaze to the ground.

"What?" Max asked.

"Well, Max," she started, "I kinda need to talk to you about something."

"What do you mean?"

Dom gave Rhiannon a wary glance before turning to Max and saying, "Let's go outside."

"What!" Marsha protested, "you can't say it in front of us!"

"It's strictly family," Dom said.

"She's not part of your family!" Lauren chimed in, "you'd better say what you want right here or-"

"Or what?" Dom hissed, "You remember that you're merely a fifth year Barks, and even if I hang around you lot sometimes, it's cos I feel sorry for you saddies, so you'd better know your place."

Lauren looked like she had been slapped, and the others silently looked on as Dom led Max out of the room.

Once outside, Max said, "Okay, tell me."

"I don't know if I should even be telling you this Max but," she sighed, "Al hasn't told the rest of the family about you, they don't know about the two of you."

"Not even his dad?"

Dom sadly shook her head, "And the other week, before we came here, well, I kind of overheard my grandmother tell Blanca and Rose how happy she was that Al and Blanca were together, and how she knew without a doubt that they would surely get married someday." Dom said quickly, figuring that it would be best to break the news to her all at once.

"Wha-" Max breathed weakly.

"But! But! Blanca and Rose confirmed to her that she and Al were just friends, nothing less nothing more!"

Max was still nodding catatonically, the spell she put on her hair to set it in tiny curls was now wearing out and her hair was going back to its normal state, though it looked comical that half her head was curly and the other half straight, "Okay...okay, but he still has not told anyone about us."

"Well, I think maybe he wants to wait and know that you and him are serious," Dom said, trying to reassure her, "you know, cause I don't think he wants to create the James effect, where he springs every girl he meets on his family."

"Serious?" Max exclaimed, "We've been together three months! Some people get married in that time, how serious does he want us to get?"

Dominique put a reassuring hand on Max's shoulders, "Look, I know he loves you, you just have to give him a little more time. You're the first real girlfriend he's ever had."

"But do you think what the others said is true," Max whispered, "that he loves Blanca more than me?"

"The relationship Al has with you is way different from the way he feels about Blanca, I'm certain of that," Dom replied, "and honestly, when was the last time that a word that dropped out Lauren's mouth actually made sense?"

Max giggled, "Thanks Dom," she said softly, and she turned to walk away from the Slug Club party.

"Where are you going?"

"I had a long night," Max sighed, "I need to go to bed now."

"Alright, goodnight," Dom said, and she turned to walk back to the party, what she did not see though, was the determined expression on Max's face.

After he had left, Al made a beeline for his dorm, he was still trying to process what those girls had just said, but eventually shrugged it off. It was shocking the kind of friends Max had, but again, very few girls in her year ever made sense, he quietly gave the password to the Fat Lady and went into the common room, once in his dorm, Al reached under his pillow for the Map and uttered the spell, in a few moments, the whole school was mapped out in front of him and he managed to find Blanca, she was in an empty classroom near the great hall, he hurriedly folded the parchment and put it in his pocket so quickly that he did not see Rose's and Scorpius' footsteps disappearing right outside the Room of Requirement.

Quickly coming out of the Gryffindor quarters, Al practically ran to the classroom Blanca was in; he slowly opened the door and found her seated on the floor near the front of the class, leaning against a desk, back turned to the door, she was calmly shooting colourful streamers out of her wand.

"You know," he said, "if you flex your wrist out more, the streamers will last longer."

Blanca turned round to face him, she looked like she had been crying, she gave him a small smile and said, "You were always better at Charms."

"That's because my wand's suited for Charms," he sat down next to her, "and yours is better suited for Transfiguration, remember in Second year History of Magic-"

"Wandlore-" she chipped in.

"Yeah, each wand is different, no two are the same," Al said imitating professor Binns' voice.

"No wand is superior to the other, each has its strengths and weakness-" she said.

"Whether in wood or core-" he added.

"The only wand ever known to be superior-" she said.

"Is the elder wand-" he said.

"Which was one of the Deathly Hallows." They finished in unison.

"That was fun," Blanca laughed.

"Yeah," Al agreed, "remember you me and Rose would do that so we wouldn't forget."

"Yeah, that was really fun," she sighed, "but it was years ago. I guess we all kinda figured ourselves out and grew up."

"We've all changed," Al said, "You've changed." He added silently.

Blanca turned so she could face him squarely, "You saw me and your brother," she said quietly, "is this what it's all about?"

"What's going on between you and James?" Al finally asked.

"Nothing. He just wanted a dance, that's all."

"And you agreed," Al said surprised, "Normally, you would have jinxed his head off."

Blanca sighed, "I was just being nice, that's what Hufflepuffs do right?"

"Hufflepuffs don't lie either," Al said bluntly.

Blanca looked offended, "What was that about?"

"I saw you and James last night, you ran past us in the corridor, where were you going?"

Blanca's face dropped, "Oh my god, 'we', who were you with?"

"Maxime, but that's beside the point-"

"She must have been the one who told Jenna then," Blanca said to herself.

"Told Jenna what?"

"That was what Potter was talking about," Blanca said, "he accused me of ruining his chances with Jenna by telling that he and I spent last night together." She blurted out before she realised what she had just said and who she had said it in front of.

"What?" Al said, betrayal written all over his tone, Blanca raised her head to see his face but regretted it when she saw the way he looked at her, eyes full of judgement and disgust.

"Look Al," her voice was shaky, "nothing happened, I promise."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Al asked bitterly, "That my brother spent the night with a girl without touching her?"

"I'm not just 'a girl'!" Blanca exclaimed.

"Okay then! What happened?" Al asked, "And don't lie to me!"

Blanca took a deep breath, "Okay," she whispered, "it all began when I stumbled upon Lance and Lexi in an empty passage way, then James, your brother, he came to make sure I was okay."

"James. James came to make sure you were okay?" Al asked incredulously.

"Well, I did not believe him at first but he explained why-" she explained what had happened from the time he took her to the old head's common room to the time they swore not to speak about what had happened.

"I'm sorry," she said when she had finished.

Al was shaking his head, "Maxime was right," he said quietly, "there was no reason to worry about you, because while I thought you and James were ripping each other's heads off, you were actually ripping each other's clothes off!"

"Nothing happened! I swear!"

"I thought you were different, but I guess it's true what I said earlier, you've changed." He said coldly.

"Al!" Blanca protested.

"I don't think I can look at you," he said quietly while getting up.

Blanca angrily wiped her tears and said, "Well, if that's the case, leave!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Al said as he left the room.

Al left the empty classroom with one motive on his mind: Murder. He spat the password at the Map and quickly found James, who was at the Astronomy tower, Al quickly folded the map and made his way there.

Once up on the tower, he could see James' silhouette, "You!" he yelled angrily.

"What the fuck!" James said as he ducked the curse that Al sent flying in his direction, James saw the murderous expression on his brother's face and said calmly, "Okay, Al, let's talk this over nice and slow. What did I do this time?" he said cautiously eyeing his brother's wand.

"Tell what this is all about!" Al asked angrily, "Is this about Quidditch? Is it about your reputation? Is it some sick dare? Tell me!"

James furrowed his eyebrows, "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" he dodged another spell that narrowly missed him, "Okay Al, on a serious note, we can't make a mess up here. There are some Sixth years that are coming up here for Astronomy in about two hours, so it's best if we didn't break anything!"

"Now's not the time to be funny James! What did you do with Blanca?"

"Is that why you're angry?"

"Bloody hell yeah! I'm vexed James, what's the plan? I know you've never fancied her so why the fuck now?"

"Well, dear brother, I don't fancy your friend and if she told you the whole story, you should know that we were both drunk."

"Rubbish! Why did you take her there in the first place?"

"I don't know Al," James' face adopted a serious expression, "but you ought to believe me when I say this; nothing happened between us."

"I don't believe you," Al hissed.

"What did she tell you?"

"The same thing you have."

"Then you ought to believe her, Thomas may be a spiteful pain in the arse but I know that she would never lie to you," James said, "I swear. I swear on our parents' lives that nothing happened."

Al was now nose to nose with James, his wand pointed at James' neck, "Fine, but if you ever take advantage of her, I swear James I'll rip you apart." James had never seen such fury in his brother's eyes before and just nodded dumbly.

Al turned and left the place, what he did not know was that he had dropped the map, James picked it up and studied it. It was a plain old piece of parchment, he knew his brother could be queer sometimes, but why keep a dirty useless thing like that in your robes pocket. James went to sit in by the large telescope, the place he had been seated at before he was attacked by Al. He held up the parchment to the moonlight, maybe it was an enchanted piece, he thought, but quickly discarded the thought when a pair of high heels clicked his direction.

"Hello stranger," Jenna said as she emerged with two bottles of Firewhisky.

"Hi Jenna," he said as he got the Firewhisky she handed him, "what brings you here? I thought you were prepping for Astronomy."

"Nah, I don't take that course," she replied after taking a swig of her drink, kicking her shoes off, she stretched out in front of him, "so, I saw you and Blanca, everyone's talking about it."

"Jealous?" James asked.

"You know you and I are just friends James," Jenna said, "and until you learn to be a one woman man, it's gonna stay that way."

"Well, if you agree to go out with me, I'll try my best to be that," James said.

"It's so not happening," Jenna said, "I hear people are placing bets on how long we'll last without hooking up."

"Well, soon enough, they're gonna be placing bets on how long I'll have to live," he laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"Al just came in here, little git almost murdered me!" James said humorously.

"Oh yeah, I saw him coming from here," Jenna said, "What did he want?".

"My head on a plate." James replied.

"Why?"

"Because he saw Thomas and I, and he thinks I'm trying to take advantage of her," James said, clearly steering away from the real reason he came.

"Are you?"

"Of course not! I'm using all my efforts to woo you."

"Yeah, with your track record, you have to woo harder," Jenna said.

James smiled, getting up, he held his hand out for Jenna, "I think it's time we left, the Astronomy students are starting to come up."

"Aw..." Jenna protested, "I only just came. Okay, where can we go from here?"

"I'm going to bed, I've got plans tomorrow, pray that I don't get killed in my sleep," he said, Jenna did not laugh, "that was supposed to be a joke," he said.

"It's not funny," Jenna replied.

"Oh come on Jen-"

"It's alright James, goodnight," she planted a kiss on his cheek and walked off into the dark corridor.

James sighed, why did girls have to be so moody sometimes? He waved his wand at the minor damage that Al created and started to walk out of the tower, but not before he saw a small shadow run across the castle grounds to the Black Lake, James furrowed his eyebrows; who in their right state of mind would go to the lake at this hour? Shrugging, he put the gigantic telescope in place before leaving the tower.

Al was still fuming at what Blanca and James did and figured he needed some time to think, so he decided to go to an unused greenhouse near the Quidditch pitch; he had discovered it with his friend Phil Benson back in third year, and by the following year, the two had managed to shield it from direct sunlight and set it up with some furniture so as to make it more homely, sometimes Al would take Max there when they needed to be alone, so it was kind of like their personal Room of Requirement especially since the real Room of Requirement was never free.

Al opened the door to the greenhouse and was startled when he found Max sitting in one of the chairs they had managed to smuggle in.

"Hello darling," she purred.

"Erm...hi." Al said unsurely.

"I knew I'd find you here, so I waited and you finally came," Max was calmly pouring Firewhisky into two goblets she had conjured, "Firewhisky?" she offered him a goblet.

"Thanks, what's the occasion?" Al asked, he had initially come here to vent, but Max's presence completely took all the anger away and replaced it with shock.

"Oh nothing," she said softly, "sometimes it's just nice to do stuff as a couple."

"Maxime, is this about me not wanting to come to Hogsmeade to do your shopping for the dance?"

Max threw her head back and laughed, "Of course not silly! I just want to have a good time with my boyfriend. Now sit down."

Al did not need to be told twice, especially with the fire in Max's eyes. He wondered what was going on, "Okay, I'm seated. What do you want us to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk Al," Max said softly. In one swift movement, she was on top of him and was kissing him as though her life depended upon it.

"Wha- Maxime wait!" Al said as he pushed her away.

"What?" Maxime protested, "Don't you like it?"

"Don't get me wrong, I do but-" she was kissing him again before he pushed her away a second time. Looking her in the eyes, he asked, "Maxime, how many of these have you had?" he pointed to the goblet of Firewhisky.

She smiled goofily and held up three fingers.

"Goblets?" Al asked.

Her smile grew wider as she shook her head, "No, bottles!" she lowered her head to capture his lips but he flinched away.

"You're drunk," he said.

"So?"

"So, you're not yourself. You don't know what you are doing!"

"Albus Potter, what is wrong with a girl wanting to give herself to you?"

"The fact that we promised we would do it when we are both ready."

"But I'm ready!" Max replied and yelped when Al shot her with a sobering spell, "What the hell was that for?" she demanded.

"You were drunk and ready to make a fool of yourself!"

"Did you just call me a fool?"

"I didn't, you weren't yourself."

Max started to laugh bitterly, "You know what?" she pointed a finger at him, "most guys would jump at the opportunity I just gave you and you treated me like I disgusted you!"

"Is that the way you want to be treated?" Al bellowed, "Like a slag?"

"Take that back!"

"I'm only telling you the truth!"

"You know what?" she retorted, "I don't need this! Look at me, do you know how many guys beg me to break up with you so that they can be with me? Many!" she threw her hands up in the air, "Most of them better looking than you, half of them richer and the other half cooler than you."

"Then why don't just dump me then and go ahead and marry Mr. Perfect?" Al challenged.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" she screamed loud enough that the glass walls vibrated.

Al was taken aback with the response he got, yes, they were always saying 'I love you' to each other but this was the first time he had ever seen the meaning in her eyes. He slowly sat down as he tried to digest what had just happened.

"Why don't you love me Al?" Maxime's voice was quivery, he looked up to see her; she stood there, her dress wrinkled, barefoot and tears streaking down her pretty face, she had never looked more vulnerable that she did right there.

"I care about you Maxime, I care about you a lot." He whispered.

"But you don't love me," she choked out, "say you love me Al! Say it!"

"I love you," Al said silently.

"Then why doesn't your family know about me?"

"Wha-?"

"You've never mentioned me. Why?"

"I wanted you to come over for Christmas, that's when I was going to tell them," Al explained.

Max smiled, a bitter, crooked smile, "But you love her more than me right?"

"Who?"

"Casablanca Thomas, you love her more than you do me."

"That's crazy Maxime, Blanca and I are just friends," he said, though unsure of his words because of the previous events, walking towards Maxime, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "It's you I love," he whispered before he kissed her.

Max nodded shakily, "Let's get going then," she said quietly, "Filch is probably on the prowl now."

They left the greenhouse and crept back into the castle, hand in hand. Maxime looked at Al, he had lied to her, he may not have realised he was lying but she saw it in his eyes; the confusion and uncertainty. If this was any other guy, she would have left him there and then but she loved Al more than anything, and she was going to do whatever it took to make him love her back, so, holding her head high and taking a deep breath, she hurried along behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Model Behaviour

Blanca unsteadily sauntered into the Hufflepuff common room, silently praying that no one was awake yet, she hurried across the large round room to the little hatch door that led to her dorm. After her argument with Al, Blanca decided that she needed to calm down and think things through, so gathering up all the courage she had, she went to the only place that calmed her down: the Black Lake. There was something about water that calmed Blanca down and eventually, she was lying on a log, looking at the still water, softly rippling only by the movement of the giant squid and before she knew it, she was fast asleep, only just waking up five minutes ago. Slowly pushing the door to her dorm open, she was startled by Mel who was sitting upright on her bed.

"Mel," Blanca whispered cautiously, "Mel are you awake?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I was just thinking," she whispered back.

"About what?"

"About where you were!" Mel said, "Where were you and why are you all wet?"

Blanca picked her watch from her bedside table, "It's past eight, I need to go," she said peeling her wet robes off.

"You got a date with James?" Mel asked.

"Huh?"

"Everyone's talking about it, I just wish my best friend would have told me earlier so that I didn't have to hear it from others," she said softly.

"Potter and I are not dating, it was just all one big mix-up," Blanca explained, "and don't always listen to what people say."

"Then where are you rushing to?"

"I've got breakfast with my dad," came the answer.

"Well, lucky me, I get to meet my dad every single day!" Mel laughed.

Blanca laughed at the joke, "Are you coming to Hogsmeade today?"

"No, I think I'll sit this one out, my mom will just have to mail me the stuff for the dance," she said simply, "Say hi to your dad for me eh?"

"Sure thing!" Blanca was putting her sneakers on, she reached for her watch when she saw the three envelopes on her bedside table, she hadn't taken those from Al yesterday.

"Linda brought them last night, she had run into Al and he asked her to bring them," Mel explained when she saw Blanca staring. "And are you going to tell me where you were? I was worried sick."

"We're back to that again?" Blanca groaned.

"Yeah!"

"Okay fine," she whispered, "I slept at the lake."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it just happened." She looked at the letters on her table again, she had not opened the one form the Witch Weekly yet. Tearing it open, she saw a curly fancy handwriting which read; _Greetings Miss Thomas, we at the Witch Weekly are requesting a meeting with you to discuss the latest developments that have come up. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about dear, what do you think about Sunday the 8__th__ of August? Please send your answer as soon as possible, possibly before named date, hoping to see you soon. Regards, Lavender Brown, editor-in-chief of Witch Weekly Magazine._

"Who's it from?"

"The Witch Weekly," Blanca replied, still trying to make sense of the contents of the letter

"They say they want to meet with me tomorrow to discuss something I already know about."

"What could it be about? You and James?"

"I don't think so, I got this yesterday, and that would just be ridiculous!" Blanca said, "I'll just have to ask them." Glancing at her watch, she said, "Okay, I've got to go now, see you later," and with that, she climbed out of the door.

Thanking Merlin that Filch was not carrying out one of his ridiculous inspection runs, Blanca quickly made her way out of the castle gates and into Hogsmeade. It was warm today and Blanca loved the feel of the sun against her exposed arms, bursting into Three Broomsticks, she quickly found an empty table and sat there.

"Goodmorning my lovely," said Madame Esmeralda as she approached Blanca's table, she had become the new mistress of the place ever since her sister, Madame Rosmerta, retired and left for Portugal, "What may I serve you today?"

"I'll just have a small butterbeer thankyou," Blanca said politely.

"One butterbeer coming up," she said, and with a flick of her long brown hair, she left.

Blanca was slowly sipping her butterbeer when her father walked in, she glanced at her watch, it was quarter past nine; he was late, Dean Thomas was never late, yet today, he walked in fifteen minutes past schedule. Blanca brushed this aside, happy to see her father, she went to give him a hug, "Hi Dad," she said.

"How's you doing?" Dean asked as they went to sit at their table.

"I'm okay, a lot has happened, but again, it's Hogwarts, a lot is supposed to happen right?" She continued to ramble on about Quidditch practice and new classes and professor McGonagall, "How did you manage to have her from first year, wasn't it scary?" she asked, "I mean, she's really awesome and stuff, but she's really scary at the same time, she's kind of like Minister Shacklebolt, really cool, but really scary!" she asked about the store, and about the latest Quidditch news and kept on talking about trivial things when she realised that he had mentioned in his letter that he had something important to tell her.

"Um, Dad, in your letter, you said you had something to tell me, something really important."

Her father's expression became more serious, "Erm, yes Blanca, there is something I want to tell you, do you remember the trips I had been making the past three years?"

"Dad, you always take trips, remember me? I'm the one that you sometimes carry with you."

"Yes, well I know I've always travelled, but do you remember the times when you'd have to stay at Grandma Thomas' over Christmas or Easter or the summer because I was away?"

"Yeah, I remember the long trips you had to take these few years."

"Well champ, I was working on something and in the next three months, we'll be able to open branches in Paris and New York."

Blanca was dumbfounded, after she regained her senses; she leapt from her chair and went to hug her father, "Oh dad that's wonderful! Wow, New York, I've always wanted to go there! That will be so wicked!"

Madame Esmeralda came by once more to take their orders, Dean ordered a butterbeer for himself and breakfast for Blanca, who declined. "Are you sure you don't want to eat?"

"No, I'm fine, I'm just taking this all in," she said as she calmly sipped her butterbeer, after some silence, she asked, "Dad, don't get me wrong, it's great that you've decided to expand, but what triggered the decision? Because you said it would just be the shop in Diagon Alley. Was it something that happened or what?"

Her father looked grave for a moment before answering, "Well honey, that brings us to part two of the important news I have for you, the decision of expanding was not because of something, but more because of someone."

Blanca shook her head dumbly, "I am not following; what do you mean?"

"Blanca, during my trips back and forth, I met someone at a broom launch in America, she was really nice and we became quick friends, we started seeing more and more of each other and well-"

"Eeeeew! You have a girlfriend," Blanca finished off, "it's a bit gross, but I'll let you finish."

"She encouraged me to reach out and just go out on a limb, and I realised that I had been holding back all these years-"

"You sound like you're going to start singing."

"Okay, enough jokes young lady. Anyway, I have been seeing her for about a year now-"

"A year!" Blanca exclaimed, "And you're telling me this now because?"

"Because I did not know where the relationship was going, and it looks like we're going to be seeing each other for a while and so I wanted to introduce her to you."

"Why now? When I'm in the middle of school?"

"Because, someone accidentally let slip the news and magazines are all over the story, so it was best that you heard it from me and not some tabloid."

"So, if someone hadn't let slip, then you would have never told me right?"

"No honey, I was planning to tell you this Christmas, she was coming to join us."

Blanca nodded stiffly, trying to make sense of the information she had just taken in, "So, this woman, she convinced you to open stores in Paris and New York?"

"Encouraged is the more appropriate word Blanca."

"Yeah, okay. So this mystery lady, who is she?"

"Her name is Camille Jacobson, and she is a-"

"Model." Blanca finished, "Yeah, I've heard of her, she's quite famous."

"Oh, so you know her, a fan of hers I presume?"

"Nope. To be perfectly honest Dad I don't care much for models... anyway, what was she doing at a broom launch?"

"She's the new spokesperson for the Nimbus 360 series, she's actually quite nice, you'll like her."

"So, when do I meet her?"

Dean glanced at his watch, "She should be here in about five minutes."

"Oh yay! A blind date," Blanca muttered under her breath. Speaking up, she asked, "She doesn't even fly professionally, why are they using her? Shouldn't they like have a pro-flyer like Viktor Krum do it? Maybe even Lee Jordan?"

"I actually thought the same thing at first, but that's the way it's done in some places, sometimes the spokesperson won't know about the product, but as long as it's marketed well and sales are up, no one cares. It's quite a clever idea if you ask me."

"I think you think it's a clever idea just because you like Camille." Blanca was already beginning to get antagonistic about this woman and she had not even met her yet; this was definitely not her character because in true Hufflepuff fashion, she would always wait and get to know a person before laying judgement. But today was different, she saw the way her father's face would light up every time he talked about this woman and she was beginning to feel replaced as the only girl in his life, now his time would be divided and he would not pay as much attention to her anymore, it sounded childish but Blanca could see it happening and she was not liking the more she imagined it.

Just then, Al walked in, he was with Max, the two seemed to be joined to the hip these days, Max gave Al an annoyed glare and went to sit at a table in the other corner as Al made his way to Blanca and her father. "Goodmorning Mr. Thomas." He said.

"Goodmorning Al, how are you?" Dean replied, "I received your letter, thanks, it's wonderful to know that someone would be concerned."

"Well, it is as it is sir," he replied.

"Hi Al," Blanca said nervously.

Al gave Blanca a cold glare, turning to Dean, he said, "I'll just go now, Maxime is waiting for me, so I hope I will be seeing you soon Mr. Thomas." He glanced at Blanca one more time, and left.

"What was that about?" Dean asked, she could see the annoyance in his eyes.

"We kind of had a fight, Al and I."

"What was it about? Was it one of those silly fights you have about who's the better Quidditch team?" Al was a die-hard Puddlemere fan and Blanca would always argue who was the better team, it was only in fourth year when they agreed to disagree and that dispute was over.

Before Blanca could reply, the doors opened and in walked possibly one of the most beautiful women Blanca had ever seen. She had long strawberry blonde hair that fell in soft curls, bright blue eyes, a tiny nose and full red lips, her high heels only made her already long legs look longer and she was clad in a green sun-dress that reached just above her knees, her face brightened up when she saw Dean and Blanca, and she made her way to where they were sitting.

"Hello there," she said to Dean as she planted a kiss on his lips, Blanca held back a wince as she watched the two, turning to Blanca, she smiled and said, "And you must be the famous Blanca. Your father has told me so much about you, it's so nice to finally meet you." She held her hand out for Blanca to shake.

"Hello." Blanca said, "You must be Miss Jacobson."

"Oh, so Dean must have told you about me. If it wasn't for the interview with the Witch Weekly, we could have gotten a chance to know each other better."

"What interview?"

"Well, it had so happened that the media got wind of what was-"

"I heard that from my Dad already, but, what interview?"

"It will be in the Witch Weekly on Wednesday." Camille said.

Blanca paused for a bit before remembering the letter she read earlier, "Is that why they want to see me tomorrow?"

"They contacted you?" Dean asked, looking annoyed, "Well, that was uncalled for."

"Yeah, they say they want to see me, the letter was from Lavender Brown, I think you went to school together."

"When is this meeting?"

"Tomorrow." Blanca replied simply.

"Well, you can't do it," he said.

"Why not? I also need to give my opinion on this all."

"Well, you don't know Camille yet."

"Well," Camille broke in, "she could postpone the interview until we get to know each other better. What do you think Blanca?"

"Well, Miss Jacobson, I don't know if-"

"Please, call me Camille," she said as she sipped her coffee in a dainty fashion, "and we'll have a lot of time to get to know each other whilst we're out house hunting this Christmas."

"Oh, so you'll be getting a house for yourself here," Blanca observed, "You must really like it here."

"Yeah, I figured we needed a new place to live." Camille replied.

"Oh, so you have a family?" Blanca asked.

"No silly!" Camille laughed, "It's for the three of us, you know, me, you and your dad."

Blanca gasped, "What do you mean? We don't need a new house, my dad and I are fine the way we are," Blanca glanced at her father, "Dad?"

"You haven't told her, have you?" Camille asked.

"Haven't told me what?"

Dean nervously glanced at Blanca, "Well honey, since Camille will be moving in with us-"

"Wait, moving in?" Blanca whispered, "I've only known her for five minutes and you're telling me she's moving in!"

"It's the proper thing to do," Dean continued.

"Why? Is she pregnant?"

"Blanca!"

"No, Dean, it's okay," Camille said, "it's only natural that she reacts like this, I would have been worried if she took it calmly." Turning to Blanca, she said, "And no dear, don't worry, I'm not pregnant."

"But the house, it has so many-"

"Memories? Blanca, I know it has many special memories, but sometimes we have to make room for the new ones."

Blanca was shaking her head, "Does Grandma know?"

"Oh yes, I met her last week," Camille replied, "she seems nice."

"That's because she _is _nice," Blanca said, "Dad, you can't do this, why so soon? What's the rush and why is it the 'proper' thing to do?"

"Because she's going to have to live with us if she's going to be part of our family."

"So you're getting married?"

"No, we're not getting married. Blanca, you have to be reasonable."

"No!" Blanca stood up, "You're the one that has to be reasonable; in one hour, you spring on me that you've been seeing her and that you're getting a new house and that she's moving in! I think that's too much!"

"Blanca," his voice was warning.

"No, I already have a lot on my plate Dad," she said, "I think I've lost my friend, and I think I'm slowly losing another, I probably made the worst decision I could possibly have made just two nights ago and now you and her spring up on me like this- you know what? I think I have to go now," she gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek, "goodbye Dad." And she walked out of the pub.

Dean was dumbfounded, Camille gently rubbed his shoulder, "Let me go and talk to her, I think maybe a woman to woman talk would do this justice, just meet me at the hotel."

Blanca was sitting on a bench a few streets away when she heard a pair of high heels approaching, she turned to see Camille standing a few inches away from her.

"Can I sit?" she asked.

"Go ahead, it's not my bench."

Camille sat and crossed her long legs and turned to face Blanca, "So, do you want to talk about what happened in there?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you very much, don't you get the picture?"

"Oh," Camille nodded understandingly, "I know what this is all about. You think that I've come to take your father from you, because now, he won't be able to give you the undivided attention you're used to getting from him."

"What do you want?"

"Okay, let me just tell you this Blanca, I'm a straight shooter, which means I'm not going to mince words with you and tell you what you want to hear. This is the truth; am I here to take tour father from you? No. Will this cause your father to stop giving you the undivided attention you like? Yes. But he'll always be there for you and it's not like he'll just abandon you or something."

"Why are you making him move out?"

"Honestly Blanca, have you ever seen your apartment? It's really just too small."

"But my parents were perfectly happy there."

"Well, there is time for change, your father is a wealthy man, he needs to live the life that comes with it."

"Is that why you're with him? Because of his money?"

Camille laughed, "You're so funny," then her face changed to be much more serious, "I have more money than I know what to do with, I'm with your father because I love him."

"Really?" Blanca asked sarcastically.

"Blanca, you're sixteen, you're practically a grown woman, I got my own place at sixteen and I lost my virginity at sixteen."

"Thanks for the details," Blanca drawled.

"Anyway," Camille continued, pointedly ignoring the last comment, "I fell in love for the first time at sixteen, and it's the most magical thing that happened. Have you ever felt that way before?"

"It's none of your business."

"Well, if you've felt that way before, then you'll know that I'm not with your father for the money, but because I love him."

"And you're sure he loves you?" Blanca asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at you, I mean, you're a model for crying out loud, you're young, hot, sexy and famous. Don't you think he's with you just so he can get some?"

"Your father loves me as well." Camille said quietly.

Blanca gave her a smug smile, "Did you not hear him back there? He said you two weren't getting married, doesn't that tell you something? He only wants you around for amusement, soon, we'll be back to normal."

"Then why did he ask me to come here to meet you?" Blanca could hear impatience and annoyance tinted in her voice.

"Correction. He brought you here so that I could come to see you," she replied, "he brought you here so that I wouldn't have to go through the pain and suffering I was going to experience had I read that magazine," Camille was turning a horrid tomato red, but Blanca continued, "he brought you here for me, because it's me he cares about and not you."

Camille was shaking her head, "Well I never!" she spat.

"And you never will," Blanca chimed in.

"Listen missy, your father and I are together now and that's the way it's going to be for a very long time. So you had better stop this childish behaviour and accept the situation because there is nothing you can do to stop it." Her voice was dangerously low now, "Do I make myself clear?"

Blanca gave her a bright smile, "As clear as you'll ever get," she replied, "Now, are you done wasting my time? Because I have a date in a few, and also, I have to prepare for my meeting with the Witch Weekly tomorrow, so" she gestured towards the direction in which Camille came from, "if you could now grace me with your absence."

Camille stiffly got up and began to walk away, "Little brat," she muttered under her breath.

Blanca ignored the latest comment, instead, she smiled and waved, "Go on, jug on, walk on, cheerio, goodbye, bon-voyage, fuck off!"

After Camille disappeared down the bend, Blanca heard clapping behind her, "Wow, Thomas, with that performance, you could have made Slytherin proud."

Blanca turned and saw Scorpius casually leaning against an old pillar, "So, you were here the whole time?"

"Actually, you two disturbed my reading," he showed her a small pocket book in his hands, "was that Camille Jacobson you just gave a dressing-down?"

"Yeah. She's trying out for step-mommy."

"I figured that much out," Scorpius said as he slid down next to her.

"I just don't know why he wants to start stuff like this now."

"Have you considered the fact that he may be lonely?"

"He can't be lonely. He's got the guys at the shop, he's got my grandmother, he's got Seamus and he's got me!"

"Well, Thomas, if I need to spell this out for you, don't you think maybe he's lonely in a way that none of the people mentioned above could remedy? You know, sexual stuff-"

"Oh, Malfoy, just stop now!" Blanca was covering her ears.

"But it's the truth."

"Okay then, why couldn't he just hook up with Parvati Patil, she's nice, and she seems to like him for who he is. I wouldn't mind her for a stepmom."

"Who's that? Wait! I've heard that name before, isn't she the owner of the Perfume and Spice shop in Dublin?"

"Yeah. She's the one, she went to school with him- how do you know what she does?"

"My mother once dragged me there to get some bath salts and scents of sorts," he shuddered, "worst day of my life."

"Anyway, she looks like she likes him and at least she's nice," Blanca said.

"So, you clearly don't like Camille Jacobson."

"No, I don't like her at all," she said, "and I think my dad is just with her for sex."

"Oh, so when you say it, it's okay." Scorpius observed.

"Shut up Malfoy, by the way, where's Rose?" she asked, "You two did not show up for slug club last night."

"She's still sleeping," Scorpius replied, "we kinda had a late night yesterday."

"Spare me the details," Blanca said.

Scorpius laughed, "Well, we sure did miss a show last night, yours and James' unlikely hook up is the talk of the whole school."

"First of all, it wasn't a hook up, it was just a dance," Blanca corrected, "and secondly, I thought you were too cool for Hogwarts gossip."

"I am. But you'd have to be blind and deaf not to hear about it."

"Gee, I'm famous." Blanca said sarcastically.

Scorpius eyed her curiously, "You know something Thomas, you've changed."

"How do you mean?"

"You're becoming less and less nice."

"I've always been un-nice, you just never spent any time with me that's all!" Blanca replied, "But now, I guess we'll have to be seeing more of each other huh?"

"I guess so."

"Oh, and by the way, Rose is still my best friend, so I hope you won't be spending all her time. I still need her you know!"

"What for?"

"For moments like this! She's the only one that would rationally think through a situation like this and prevent me from spending my life in Azkaban!"

"I see," Scorpius said dryly, "So what do you plan to do from here?"

"Well, seeing as my meeting with my father did not go well, I plan to spend the next three hours here on this bench sulking until lunch."

"Or," Scorpius said standing up, "you could come with me and we could explore Hogsmeade. What do you think?"

"Fine." Blanca said, "After all, if he's happy why should I be sad? I have the right to have fun too right?"

They left the little alley and went into the streets, looking through every shop window they passed.

"So what do you do for fun?" Blanca asked.

"Huh?"

"Fun, Malfoy, F-U-N fun! Apart from bullying helpless people, what do you do for your amusement; I mean, this is the first time I've seen you out without Zabini or Goyle."

"I'll have you know Thomas, that my bullying days are over," Scorpius said matter-of-factly.

"Humanitarian Rosie get to you?" Blanca asked.

"She doesn't like me making the first years lives hell," Scorpius mumbled, "so I promised her I wouldn't bother any first or second years."

"Clever promise," Blanca observed, "still leaves you five whole years to yourself."

"Well, I told Rose that those can defend themselves and so we came to a compromise."

"Oh, let's get in here!" Blanca said, while entering a costume shop.

"What is this place?"

"It's a costume shop. This is where people come to buy stuff for events like Halloween," Blanca explained slowly, "have you never bought a costume before?"

"Well, actually, I have all of mine custom made," Scorpius replied.

"I should have known," Blanca muttered under her breath, "anyways, back to your promise to keep out of the kids' way, I bet it'll only last two weeks, one month tops! Think about it, you thrive on making their lives a living hell!" she picked out a bunch of things and started putting them in Scorpius' arms before he could refuse, "Hold these for me will you," she said as she went to one of the changing rooms, "And what will the rest of the school think, you Scorpius Malfoy, becoming nice?" she came out, dressed like a banshee, "What do you think."

"I think when I said 'let's go out and explore Hogsmeade', I didn't mean I wanted to sit in a smelly old costume shop and watch you try on stuff."

"Shut up. What do you think?"

"I don't like it." He said as she gestured for him to pass her another of the items she picked off the racks. "And about the school wondering what sparked the change in me, I don't think they'll notice."

"How do you mean?"

"You see, I still hang out with Zabini and Goyle and they didn't make any promises, so while they bully, everyone will think I'm part of it while in actual fact, I've done nothing. And besides, even if they did notice, I don't care, I love Rose and that's all that matters."

Blanca came out of the changing room looking like a muggle nun, "I don't think that's all that matters, you forget two very important people in this whole entire equation."

"What?"

"Your father and her father," Blanca replied as she studied herself in the mirror, "what do you think?"

"Too concealing," Scorpius replied, "and I've already thought that one through."

"And?"

"They simply won't find out about us."

"How long do you plan to date my friend? One, two months?" she asked, "Because if it's a short term relationship and you break her heart, I kill you, and if it's long term thing, they are bound to find out- and they'll kill you."

"Well, they will just have to accept that we are in love and there is nothing they can do about it!"

"I like your optimism dear friend," Blanca said from the changing room, coming out looking like woodland fairy, she continued, "but have you met your father?"

"He may be nasty sometimes but-"

"May? Come on Malfoy, no offense but no one likes your father," Blanca said honestly, "my father likes everyone but even he draws the line at the senior Malfoy. Heck! Even I don't like your father."

"That one hurt," Scorpius said quietly.

Blanca felt bad, "I'm sorry, it was not my place to say that."

"No, it's fine Thomas; I understand why my father is met with negative remarks."

"Anyways," Blanca sat next to him, "very few people like your father and the person who hates him the most happens to be Rose's dad. And dare I say, the feeling between your and her dad happens to be mutual."

"I've thought about that. And honestly, I don't care, I love Rose, she's the best thing that ever happened to me and my father can disown me if he wants to but I'll never give her up. Not for anything in the world."

Blanca smiled, "Okay, what do you think about this costume?" she pranced around the room in a little dress made of leaves and twigs, "I'm a fairy see?"

"I'm not sure...wait, I thought we were talking about-"

"Never mind that!" she said, "you passed," she said as she went back into the changing room and emerged in her own clothes.

"What?"

"You proved you like Rose so much you could spend a whole entire hour with her motor-mouth best friend dissecting the odds of your relationship in a fancy dress shop, and that means a lot."

"So this was all a set up?"

"Well, initially, it wasn't, but eventually, the plan sort of turned up in the mix."

"So, you weren't even going to buy any of those costumes?"

"For what?" she asked, "I get my costumes custom made," she said, imitating his pompous tone.

"Real funny," Scorpius said tonelessly.

"But seriously, I wasn't going to place an order on a costume today!" Blanca said, dramatically waving her hands in the air, "What do you think I am, Lauren Barks and her friends?"

"You'd rather wait till the last minute?"

"It's funner that way."

"'Funner' isn't a real word."

"Whatever, Dorkius!"

"So, since you seem to have taken over the tour, where are we going now?"

"To help you get a gift for Rose." Blanca replied.

"Huh?"

Blanca sighed, "Do I have to explain everything to you? Girls like to be bought gifts, especially by their boyfriends. I think Rose would like something from you."

"Well, what do you think I should get her?" Scorpius asked unsurely.

"What does she like?" Blanca asked.

"You're her best friend, you should know."

"And you're her boyfriend, so you should know better."

"A jewel encrusted necklace?" Scorpius asked, Blanca shook her head, "Most girls like jewellery!"

"I don't." Blanca said.

"That's because you're strange," Scorpius replied.

Blanca hit him across the back of his head, "I'm not!"

"Well, I think Rose would love a necklace adorned with rubies."

Blanca shook her head, "No Malfoy, Rose does not like superficial things like that," she motioned that they turn into the next shop, "She's not like most girls."

"I know," Scorpius said fondly.

"Exactly, she wouldn't want something as materialistic as expensive rubies, if you want to get her jewellery; you ought to go simpler. Take something from the heart, make something yourself, you know, make her feel special."

Scorpius looked confused, "Can we start with something easier then, like a book?"

"That's why we're here," Blanca motioned around her, they were in a bookshop.

"How come I've never been in here before?" Scorpius said.

"That's because they sell mostly muggle books, and seeing as you wanted your secret love for muggle literature kept secret, you probably never went in." Blanca explained.

"Actually Thomas, I've never been here before because I thought what would a tiny shop like this have that I would find of importance?"

"Never judge a book by its cover Malfoy," Blanca said as she started skimming through some titles, "Now, what did she say she liked?"

"Well, I know she's a great fan of Shakespeare, but she has all his works, and she also likes Darles Chickens-"

"You mean Charles Dickens," Blanca corrected.

"Yeah, him." Scorpius said, "Rose introduced me to his work during the summer, he's not half bad."

"What do you mean he's not 'half-bad'? He's great!"

"Yeah, yeah, anyway, she's read almost all his stuff too. But she told me about this book, I don't know who wrote it, but she said it was one of the most beautiful stories she read, even better than Romeo and Juliet, the only problem was, someone had torn out the last ten pages of the book and so never knew how it ended."

"Do you remember what it was called?"

"Something like Withering Heights."

"Do you mean Wuthering Heights?" Blanca asked.

"Yeah," Scorpius replied, "Wait! How did you-?" he looked down at Blanca who was on her knees, there was a massive pile of books around her and she was waving one thick book at him.

"Wuthering Heights," she read, "by Emily Brönte."

"How did you find it?"

"The secret is to be patient and just dig deeper, I tend to remove the first line of books so that I can see the books hiding behind there, it's in the back where all the good stuff hides." Blanca replied.

She started to put the books back when the shop attendant came, "You don't need to do that," she said as she waved her wand at the books and they all fell into place. "Is this the book you want?" she asked kindly.

"Yes please," Scorpius replied.

"It's a wonderful read, actually, it was one of the first gothic novels to be written, it was done with such beauty though, and, this is the original copy" she said as she wrapped up the book, "That will be twelve galleons please." Scorpius gave her the money and soon, they were out of the shop.

"Where to next?" he asked.

"I think let's go to Jimmy's Tool Shed," she said.

"Why, what would you want from there?"

"Something for Hagrid, he spent the whole summer taking care of my owl."

"What happened?"

"Her wing got fried by lightning during a storm while she was making a delivery, she almost died." Blanca said, "Hagrid has been taking care if her and she's almost as good as new."

They walked to the hardware shop which was at the corner of the street they were walking, "Okay, now it's your turn to help me," she said, "what do you think he'd want?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, you're a guy, what magical tool would you find very useful?"

"Actually, I've never used a tool before, magical or muggle," Scorpius said, a hint of embarrassment tinted in his voice.

"I should have guessed," Blanca sighed, "besides why would the sole heir to the Malfoy fortune do any manual work?"

"Stop making fun of me."

"I'm not. I'm just stating facts."

He playfully nudged her, "I've always wanted a power axe." He said.

"To do what with?"

"I'd rather not tell you."

They looked around in silence until Blanca finally found what she thought would be perfect, "I think I've found it." She said quietly.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked as he looked at the clumsy-looking wooden thing.

"It's a tool sharpener, Hagrid is always complaining about how his tools always lose their sharpness at some point," she said. Blanca called for the Jimmy, the owner of the shop and asked for the tool to be packaged for them.

"Here you go dear," the small man said in a gruff voice, "I've shrunk it, but it will go to its normal size once it's taken out of this bag."

"Thankyou very much sir," she replied as she put the small bag in her back jeans pocket.

"That will be fifty five galleons and ten sickles please."

"Do you have a credit booklet?"

"Ah yes," he disappeared to the back of the shop and came back with a little black book, "sign here please," he said, and Blanca happily obeyed and signed the enchanted paper. In the Wizarding world, the way the credit system worked was that the buyer would sign in an enchanted booklet that would immediately send a signal to Gringotts where money would be deducted from the buyer's account and sent into the seller's. On her sixteenth birthday, Dean gave Blanca her own credit pass that allowed her access to the family account.

"Remember, it's only for emergencies." He said.

Well, this was an emergency. Well, sort of. Heck! She did not care!

Once out of the shop, Scorpius asked, "What's the time?"

"It's half past eleven," Blanca replied, "Can we go back to the castle now?"

"I thought we were only getting started."

"No, I'm tired." Blanca said, "That's the longest shopping trip I've taken in years."

"You're joking."

"I'm not big on buying stuff for myself, and all my friends' birthdays come by around the same time of the year, so I just buy their gifts and the rest of the year is shopping-free."

"Again, you're strange Thomas."

The walk back to the Hogwarts castle was uneventful, only filled in by occasional small talk here and there. Once in the gates, Blanca turned to Scorpius, "Thankyou Malfoy."

"For what?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

"For making my morning." Came the reply.

"Uh, you're welcome," Scorpius said uncertainly, and awkwardly turned to head towards the castle.

Blanca then turned the other direction and made her way to Hagrid's shed.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Hagrid's Happy Lunch

Blanca and Scorpius parted ways as she made her way to Hagrid's shed; he was outside peeling a large sack of potatoes.

"Hullo Hagrid," Blanca said as she approached him.

The greying giant looked up and smiled at who was coming, "Blanca, yer here! 'Ow nice to see yer!" he got up and engulfed her in a bone-crushing bear hug.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"Wonderful, greaigh'" he bellowed, "come inside fer a cuppa tea."

"Thankyou," Blanca replied.

"Something tells me yer not happy 'bout something, it is Tawny?"

"No, no!" Blanca exclaimed, "I actually came to thank you for healing Tawny, she looks really great."

"Naw, don' mention it, besides, you already did tha' last week. I did it as a favour for me friend." He patted her shoulder.

"Thankyou, anyway, I guess I came here because I miss spending time here," she said.

"Where is Rosie?" Hagrid asked, "Yer two are joined at the hip, and she hasn't come over yet."

"I think Rose is still asleep, we had Slug Club last night."

"Ah, with Professor Slughorn," Hagrid said darkly, "so I take it yer won' be takin Care of Magical Creatures no more?"

Blanca shook her head, "I'm afraid not, I'm really sorry Hagrid."

"Naw, I don' blame you, yer couldda been killed last time!"

"There is something I got for you," Blanca said, "come with me."

Hagrid followed her, surprised by her sudden bright mood, she went out into the yard and took a small bag for her pocket, she removed something from it and put it on the ground, in a few seconds, it grew to be an old-fashioned tool sharpener.

"Why it's a tool sharpener, the old-fashioned type," he said happily, Blanca was glad to see that he liked it.

"I just thought I'd get you something as a thankyou for healing Tawny." She said in a quiet voice.

"Aw, c'mere you!" he engulfed her in another bone crushing hug.

A cough from behind them separated the two, Blanca looked up to see James with two funny looking bird-like creatures in each hand, he was muddy and he had bruises on his hands, "I found them Hagrid, they were a few hours into the forest, but the mother had not got to them yet."

"Thank goodness," Hagrid said as he got the creatures from him and put them in a cage, "thankyou James."

"Hello Potter," Blanca said.

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to see Hagrid that's all," she said aloofly.

"Sorry for disturbing, I'll just clean up and leave," he said politely, much to Blanca's surprise.

"It's okay," Blanca said kindly, "after all, you were doing something important right?"

"Yeah, kind of," He said as he waved his wand at himself, clearing the mud and blood.

Blanca walked to the cage where the little birds sat, "What are they?" she asked.

"Harpies," James said simply.

"What, aren't they dangerous?"

"Not in their first few months," James replied, "but these ones tried to escape, it's a good thing I found them before the mother did."

"Why?"

"Because," the answer came from Hagrid, who had just emerged from the house carrying a large bucket of meat, "the mothers eat all but one Harpling. So, these little tykes wouldda been dinner." He put a piece of meat in the cage and Blanca watched as they savagely tore it all up and gobbled it.

"Alright Hagrid," James said, "I'll see you later, I have stuff..."

"Aw! C'me on!" Hagrid protested, "At least stay fer lunch."

James thought about it before uncertainly agreeing. Believe it or not, up to now, no one had gathered up the courage to tell Hagrid that his rock cakes were not great, let alone tell him he needed to give up making them. Blanca was slowly trying to inch away, praying she wouldn't be noticed when she heard: "Yer too Blanca! I just made a fresh batch of rock cakes and I don't think I'll be able to finish them all by myself!"

Sighing, she slowly trudged back to the cabin, hating herself for coming in the first place.

"C'me on in, both o' yer!" he waved them inside.

Once inside, Blanca picked the seat furthest away from James and started drawing imaginary lines on the table.

"'Ere you go," Hagrid set large plates laden with soup in front of them, "Some mixed herb soup to start us off yeah," he said in a jolly tone as he sat down to join them.

"It's delicious Hagrid, thanks," James said after taking a bite.

Blanca gingerly took a tiny taste and gave out an involuntary smile; this was one of the most delicious soups she had ever had, it was a mix of sweet, sour and salty textures and it practically slid down your throat. "This is great Hagrid," she said, "What's it made of?"

"Sharon weed and a dash of something called Xyio- something," Hagrid replied, "I am not exactly sure what it does but the sign next to it said 'Not Toxic' and Professor Longbottom had allowed me to borrow some roots and herbs from your greenhouses."

Blanca nodded, they had been studying the Xyiophalagus root the past week and it was known for its properties of fabricating the feeling of joy for a short period of time, usually given to patients suffering from chronic depression.

"It really is good," Blanca said, her smile growing wider and wider as she spooned more of the soup.

"So, tell me, how was your day?" Hagrid asked, turning to James, who was also getting happier by the second.

"Well Hagrid, apart from hunting for those Harplings, which gave me a new group of scars I need to heal properly," he held up his scratched arm, and started to laugh, causing the others to join him, "but aside from that Hagrid," his voice was more serious, "I was with Jenna Hart this morning."

"She's a wonderful lass!" Hagrid boomed, "Not afraid to get her hands dirty during my classes!"

"Yeah, anyway," he continued gleefully, "I think she is ready to finally go steady with me, this time for real!"

Blanca felt something deep inside that hurt, but it was quickly masked away by the happiness she felt for James, "That's just wonderful James!" she said happily, "This calls for a toast!"

"Yeah!" Hagrid agreed, lifting up his large mug, he raised it up and boomed, "To my dear friend James!"

"And to his happiness!" Blanca chimed in, "May true love prevail and may you live a long happy life full of wonderful wonders and magical everything!" she giggled.

"Aw guys, that's too much," James said, placing a hand on his heart, "you guys are the bestest friends I ever had."

"Oh, that's just touching," Hagrid said, pulling a rag from his pocket and wiping his tears away, "Who's ready fer the next course? We havin potaters roast!"

"Yay!" Blanca and James both cheered.

"And you Casablanca dear, anything interesting today?" Hagrid sung.

Blanca giggled, "Oh, Casablanca, I love that name... I love it I love it I love it!" she said, "Anyway, I met my daddy today," she said happily.

"Wow!" the other two marvelled.

"Yes, and it turns out he has a girlfriend!" she chortled, and after the other two finished, she continued, "I think she's just lovely the woman he's with!"

"Whuz her name?" Hagrid asked.

Blanca looked at him for some time before whispering, "I don't know!" and bursting into a fit of giggles.

The rest of their lunch was a happy one and when they had finished, James and Blanca left the cabin arm in arm, singing jolly tunes from Professor Flitwick's glee club. They were halfway towards the castle when the effects of the Xyiophalagus wore off; Blanca felt like she had been dipped in an ice cold well and she had this heavy feeling of melancholy.

"What the bloody hell are you doing holding my arm Thomas?" James spat.

"What do you mean I'm holding you arm? You're the one holding mine!"

"Whatever. Just let go!" he dropped his arm to his side.

"I'd want nothing more than to be rid of your slimy presence Potter," she hissed, and with a huff, she started to march to the castle when James held her back, "WHAT?"

"Give this to Al will you?" he held out a tattered old piece of parchment.

"Exactly what do you think I am James Potter? Your servant?" she scoffed, "He's your brother isn't he?"

"You've never had a problem with helping him out," he replied.

"Just so you know, we don't talk anymore." Blanca retorted.

"If you hadn't opened your big mouth and told him about that night, maybe you two would still be friends!"

"What the hell do you care?" Blanca's hands were raised above her head.

James inched towards her "You and Al have been friends for a very long time and even if I don't show it, I happen to give a shit about my brother and I know he cares about you."

"So?"

"So why don't you get off your high horse and go and make things right," he whispered, "this could be your peace offering." He shoved the parchment in her hands.

"Why should I trust you?" Blanca asked.

"Because you know I'm right, and I know that because you are still standing here," he said.

Someone coughed behind them and Blanca spun around, "What?" she asked a little too rudely at Jenna who was standing behind her.

"I came for James," Jenna said, completely ignoring Blanca's rude answer.

Blanca turned to James, "Your whatever is here for you," and turned to leave.

"Hey!" Jenna replied, sounding offended, "I can hear you!"

"I wasn't whispering!" came the reply.

Blanca burst into the entrance hall and made a bee line for her dorm, once in, she rummaged through her trunk and until she found her quill and parchment. Deciding that doing her assignments was the best way to spend the day, she threw her things on the bed and proceeded to look for her text books. The door opened and in walked Mel, she had her work gloves on and they were streaked with mud.

"Hullo," she said as she untied her dirty blonde hair, "you're back already."

"Yeah," Blanca said quietly.

"Something tells me something happened on that visit with your dad," she observed.

"Nothing really," Blanca replied, "just my dad brought a girl over."

"That's great!" Mel beamed, "You must be happy for him right?"

Blanca looked at Mel as though there was something wrong with her, "What do you think?"

"So you don't like her?" Blanca simply blinked at her friend, Mel furrowed her brows, "But you should be happy that he's found someone."

"I'm afraid she might hurt him," she replied, "besides, what would someone like her want with someone like my dad? I mean, he's _old!_"

"Who is it?"

"Camille Jacobson."

"Wow," Mel marvelled.

"Wow? Really Mel?" Blanca asked.

"Love knows no age," Mel said dreamily, "the heart wants what the heart wants, and besides, your dad is really nice. I think it's only right that he's happy sometime."

"Yeah, and I think it's only right that I go and study right now," she replied as she got up to collect all her material.

"But we have Quidditch practice today, remember?" Mel said.

"Huh?"

"Remember you asked Bernie to talk Mosley into having us switch our practice days with them?"

"Shit!" Blanca whispered, "So practice is now?"

"Yeah, that's why I came up here, to get ready lady captain!" Mel replied.

Blanca nodded, "I must have forgotten, I'll be there," she said, throwing her belongings back in her trunk.

"Hurry, everyone's ready," Mel said as she grabbed her robes and disappeared out the hatch door.

Blanca got her Quidditch robes and climbed out of her dorm room, half way across the common room, she was stopped by Eli Smith, he was a Second year and everyone called him a 'dorky saddie', resulting in his awkward timid behaviour and shyness. He never really spoke to anyone apart from his two friends and Blanca was surprised he was actually trying to speak to her.

"Hello Smith," she replied.

Eli blushed a brilliant red and looked down, hands in his pockets, he started shuffling his feet, "Um, I kind of wanted to ask you something Thomas, I hope it's not a bad time-"

"Actually, I have to go to Quidditch, but I have a bit of time. What is it?"

"Well, it's about the dance coming up..." Eli's voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes, what about it?" Blanca asked.

"Well, I was wondering if... I was wondering if maybe, well if it's okay with you, I hope you don't get offended by this but-"

"Eli, get on with it already!"

"You know my name?"

"You had something to ask?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if we could go together," Eli mumbled quickly.

"But Smith, its girls ask boys, you can't ask me," Blanca explained.

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled, "and that's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not dumb Thomas; you know no one is going to ask me."

"So you decided to ask me instead?"

"Yeah," Eli mumbled.

"I'm sorry Eli, but I can't go with you," Blanca replied, "it wouldn't be fair that I didn't ask the person of my choice and...and, well..."

"It would be socially awkward," Eli finished for her, Blanca looked down ashamedly, "it's okay," Eli smiled, "you have your reasons, and besides, you were nice enough to even spare me five minutes. Well I have to get going now," he said quietly.

"Thanks for understanding," Blanca said. She climbed out of the barrel door and stood on the spot for a few seconds before climbing back in. "Bloody hell," she muttered to herself, she knew she might regret this later but decided to go on with it anyway.

"Smith!" she called to a downcast Eli who was slowly trudged to his dorm, Eli turned round and his face dropped even more when he saw who was calling him.

"Yes Thomas?"

"Would you like to go to the Opening dance with me? You know, just as friends?"

"Is this because you feel sorry for me?"

"Of course not! You're a sweet kid, and I think only a super dumb person would pass up the chance to hang out with you, so what do you say?"

"But I thought you had someone to ask?"

"Who him? Nah, I changed my mind, he's not all that anyway!" Blanca dismissed.

Eli gave a small smile, which grew wider as he nodded his head continually, "Okay, we'll go together then?"

"Yep!"

"Good."

"Good, see you later then," Blanca said as she climbed out of the barrel door and sprinted to the Quidditch pitch. 'Well, that should at least bring me some good karma.' She thought as she ran to the pitch.

Blanca had already found practice had started without her, Bernie had organised the team and they were doing laps around the pitch, at her sight, Bernie dismounted his broom and jogged towards her, "I kind of started practice without you, I hope you don't mind," he said.

Blanca shook her head, "Not at all, it was the right thing to do," she replied, "sorry for being late." Blanca made to mount her broom when she lost her balance and fell flat on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Bernie rushed to her side.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just lost my balance there," she mumbled.

"If you're not feeling well, I think the team would understand if you skipped this one out."

"I said I'm fine Macmillan, now let me be," Blanca retorted, she barely walked two steps when she doubled over in pain, the whole place was spinning and the last thing Blanca heard was Bernie yelling for help.

Blanca woke up in a dark room, wondering where she was, she was beginning to panic when she saw the white curtains and realised she was in the Hospital wing.

"She's awake," someone whispered and they went closer to her, Blanca's eyes were adjusting to the light when she recognised Mel and Rose huddled by her side, she looked around and to her dismay there was no sign of Al.

"Hi guys," she whispered, "what happened?"

"Well, you came to the Quidditch pitch and you collapsed," Mel explained.

"Madam Lark says it's an allergic reaction to something you took, she won't tell us what." Rose explained, "But Blanca, I think its trouble."

Before Blanca could reply, Madam Lark walked in, followed closely by Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Longbottom, after a few seconds, Hagrid came in, he looked really nervous.

"Okay girls," McGonagall said, "could you excuse us now?"

Rose and Mel quickly rushed out and McGonagall and Sprout sat where they had been.

"How are you feeling now?" Sprout asked.

"Okay, I guess," Blanca replied.

"Do you know why we are here?" McGonagall asked, Blanca shook her head, "Well, earlier today you lost consciousness and were rushed here because of a chronic allergic reaction you had."

"Professor, with all due respect, I think everyone has had allergies, so what's so special about this?"

"Do you know the herb Xyiophalagus?"

"Yes."

"Well, you happen to be allergic to that herb, and you must have consumed it sometime within the past twelve hours," McGonagall continued, "now, we do not serve that in the meals and it was confirmed that you did not have breakfast or lunch in the great hall today."

"Yeah, I skipped both meals."

"Professor Hagrid says you joined him for lunch and that he is the one that put the herb in your meal, and Professor Longbottom confirmed that a few branches were missing from the plant."

"What's wrong with the herb?"

"Under no circumstances must the herb be used on school grounds, it is harvested here for educational purposes only and must be used only at 's," McGonagall replied, "So any use of the herb here is prohibited!"

Blanca glanced at Hagrid, he looked very scared, this would not be the first time he messed up and he obviously was afraid he would lose his job this time, "Does the herb leave any traces of consumption?" she asked innocently.

"No," came the reply.

"Then how did you know it's what I took?"

"The herb leaves a signature distortion to the blood cells of someone who's allergic, that's how come you were diagnosed," Madam Lark replied.

"Okay then," Blanca replied, and with a sigh, she said, "what are the consequences of taking this herb without permission?"

"The perpetrator will have to face a suspension of some sort, depending on the situation."

Blanca glanced at Hagrid before replying, "I did it, I took the herbs from the greenhouse on Thursday," she said, "Professor Hagrid had nothing to do with it, we had discussed the herb at lunch today and that was it, I think he must have gotten confused about it, especially after what happened to me."

"This is a serious responsibility you're taking," Sprout said, "are you sure?"

Blanca nodded, "Yes, I was near the plant during Herbology when I nicked some of the leaves, I wanted to see if what we had learned about it was really true." She said, "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt and I'm really sorry Professor," she said to professor Longbottom.

"Well then, Professor Longbottom, this is in your jurisdiction," McGonagall replied, "you can take over."

Neville nodded thoughtfully, "Well, since she said it was not meant to harm anyone, and because of the fact that I had not given out the prohibition of the plant, I'll say she gets two weeks suspension from Herbology only. And one hundred and ten points from Hufflepuff."

"Fair enough," McGonagall said, she gave Blanca one last look before getting up and stretching her robes, "Well miss Thomas, this case is closed, we hope you get well soon." And with that, she left the room, followed closely by the other professors, before he left, Hagrid looked back at Blanca and mouthed a 'Thankyou' to her, Blanca smiled at him before he left the room.

"You know she knows you're lying," Madam Lark said as she fluffed Blanca's pillow.

"So?"

"So nothing," she replied, "nothing can be done to prove it and Veritaserum can only be used if the case was connected to a murder plot or anything that will endanger the school's well being."

"Then good," Blanca answered.

Madam Lark gave Blanca a critical look before saying, "You know, for someone who's as obnoxious as you are, I'll have to say you are quite loyal."

"Yay, thankyou," Blanca said tonelessly, "Now when are they taking you back and returning Madam Pomfrey?"

Lark chuckled lightly, "You don't vex me."

"Oh drat," Blanca drawled.

Madam Lark had become the new school nurse when Blanca was in her third year after Madam Pomfrey had retired. She was very kind to the students and was not as strict as old Pomfrey was; five foot two, a kind round face, short curly red hair, this plump woman was a ray of sunshine through the dull greyness of Hogwarts. But Blanca, who had a very close friendship with Madam Pomfrey before she left, had made it her mission to drive Madam Lark away in hopes of bringing Pomfrey back. She had realised that her plan would not work by the end of third year and so gave up, but this did not stop the love-hate relationship between her and Lark. So even though these two liked and respected each other, it did not stop them from bickering once in a while.

"You know, the side effects of Xyiophalagus include horrible mood swings," Lark said kindly, "I think what you need is some rest."

"When do I get out of here?"

"We can release you tomorrow," came the reply, "if you're good, you can go today."

"What, and miss all this?" Blanca gestured to the dull Hospital wing, "Why would I do that?"

Madam Lark ignored the last comment, instead, she removed an envelope from her apron pocket, "This came for you earlier."

"Thanks," Blanca replied as she tore open the envelope.

It was from the Witch Weekly, the letter was short and went straight to the point, it said that they could not interview her because of permission issues and were sure to get back to her as soon as they has confirmation that the interview would be legalised.

"Oh great," Blanca muttered, her father had got to them quick enough to stop the interview from happening. Blanca was going to pocket to letter when she realised for the first time that she was in the hospital gowns.

"Madam Lark," she called to the middle aged woman who had gone to her office.

"What is it?" came the reply.

"My clothes, I can't find them."

Lark emerged from where she was sitting, "You're not going anywhere any time soon, why do you need them?"

"I'm planning a great escape from this place," Blanca retorted.

Lark folded her arms, "Seriously?"

"Okay, there is something really important in my jeans pocket that I need," Blanca replied, "and it's crucial for the mending of a friendship on the rocks."

"Now I wonder who would be dumb enough to go back to being friends with you."

"Hey, that's against regulation!" Blanca protested, "Staff in care are supposed to be nice to their patients! At least Madam Pomfrey knew something about that."

"I'll decide to ignore the last statement," Lark replied as she summoned Blanca's clothes from the shelf they had been sitting, "Here you go."

Blanca quickly got her jeans and removed the piece of parchment from the pocket, "Here, I'm done," she said, giving the jeans back to Lark.

"Yes, your highness," Lark replied sarcastically.

Blanca studied the parchment closely, what importance would it have to Al, and who said anything about James telling the truth about it? She did not know why she was trusting him on that but she just did.

"Lark, can I ask you something?" Blanca asked hesitantly.

"That's Madam Lark to you missy," Lark replied.

"Madam Lark," Blanca said painstakingly, "can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when I was... you know, out of consciousness or whatever, did Albus come?"

"No, only the two girls and Macmillan were here," came the reply, "why?"

"Nothing," Blanca said quietly, then after some thought, she said, "Madam Lark, what do you think of me?"

"Are you sure you're asking me that question?" Lark asked.

"I need an honest answer, please?"

"Okay. I think you are an obnoxious, insufferable, mean, stubborn, spoilt brat," Lark replied simply.

"Oh," Blanca said quietly.

"Yeah, but I think you're also kind... well sometimes, you know, when you feel up to it, and also, I think you are loyal, you're smart and well, you're honest. Which is something most people aren't." Lark continued, "Anyway, what do you care what I think?"

"Nothing," Blanca replied quietly, "what time am I good to get out of here?"

"Tomorrow," Lark replied.

"But I'm fine! I feel fine!" Blanca protested, "why can't I just leave now?"

"Because I still need to monitor you," Lark replied, "and make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"When was the last time I did something stupid?"

"Do you really want me to answer that? Cos I've got a whole file in my office," Lark said.

"Fine," Blanca huffed, "at least what time is it?"

"It's nearly midnight."

"Midnight! Goodnight then." Blanca said.

"Thankyou for the dismiss, highness," Lark said as she got up from where she was seated.

"Goodnight Madam Lark," Blanca said.

"Goodnight Blanca," she replied kindly.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In which we meet Ms Jones

Morning came quickly and Blanca quickly jumped out of bed the moment Madam Lark confirmed her discharge from the infirmary.

"In a rush are we?" Lark observed.

"As much as I would like to chat, I have somewhere to be right now." Blanca replied.

"Who is it this time?" Lark asked, "The boy whom you hate but can't resist or the boy you hates you right now but wish he didn't? Or, is it the boy that's been stealing your best friend from you?"

"Huh?" Blanca asked, confused.

"You talk in your sleep," Lark replied as she waved her wand at the bed to straighten it, "it was a wonder I managed to get some sleep form all the 'I'm sorry Al, I didn't mean to make out with James, it just happened! You know I don't like him'... and 'Malfoy, please don't steal Rosie she's my best friend!'." Lark nodded and raised her eyebrows at Blanca, who had a hand clapped on her mouth.

"Please don't tell anyone," she whispered.

Lark smiled kindly, "Let's call it the student-nurse's confidential pact."

Blanca quickly stumbled out of the infirmary, wondering just how much Lark knew. She mentally kicked herself for talking in her sleep and wondered whether she ever did that in the dorm. Fiddling with the parchment in her pocket, she made her way to the Great Hall, Blanca only realised that it was Sunday when she was greeted by an almost empty hall. There were a few sixth years here and there but the majority were third years and below, all huddled in their little groups. She made her way to her table and sat next to Florence, who was seated at the furthest end of the Hufflepuff table, quietly sipping her juice.

"Hello Flo," Blanca said as she reached for a piece of toast.

"Hi Blanca," Florence smiled brightly, "lovely day isn't it?"

"Uh-huh," she replied uncertainly.

"I heard about what happened at Quidditch practice, I hope you are feeling better," Florence said kindly.

"Oh, I'm great, it was just a small allergy," Blanca replied, "I'm more gutted about missing practice, though I know that the team was in safe hands with Macmillan."

"Yeah, he's great," Florence said dreamily.

"How do you mean?" Blanca asked sceptically, for she had seen the look on Florence's face.

"Oh, you know, just with...stuff," she replied quickly, stuffing her mouth with porridge.  
Blanca nodded as she took another bite out of her toast, she had never really been close to Florence, and so, as soon as their conversation had started, so did it finish.

Before she could get up from the table, a large brown owl, one she recognised as a Hogwarts owl, dropped a rolled up piece of parchment on her plate. Opening it, it read;

_Dear Miss Thomas,_

_You have been requested to attend a briefing in my office about a pressing school affair, please be there by 10:30._

_The password is Cheshire._

_Professor M. McGonagall_

Blanca swallowed heavily as she folded the note in her pocket, glancing at her watch, she had about forty five minutes until T-Time and so, she decided to go and find something to do during that time. Immediately after stepping out of the hall, she bumped into Jenna, she was wearing red and gold Quidditch robes, and she looked slightly exhausted.

"I didn't know you played Quidditch!" Blanca blurted out before she could stop herself.

Jenna looked down at her and smiled, "Oh, yeah, I play chaser."

"But you just got here!"

"I played when I was at my old school, I was captain of my team," Jenna replied, not taking any offence whatsoever, "by the way, goodmorning."

"Oh, oh yeah, g'morning," Blanca said distractedly as she pushed past the smiling girl and went to the owlery to check if she had any more mail.

The long walk to the owlery was calm and quiet, and Blanca thanked the heavens that she did not bump into anyone on the way there.

Once in the owlery, she made a bee line for Tawny's shed when she heard a muffled sound coming from the registered post compartment. Curious at what was causing the noise, she tiptoed there and quickly slid the large door aside. Inside the small space were Rose and Scorpius snogging like there was no tomorrow.

"Really guys!" Blanca exclaimed at the startled pair.

"Oh, hi B," Rose said shyly.

"What are you two doing in the owlery?" she half laughed.

"We were making out," Scorpius replied honestly.

"Walk away Malfoy," she said to Scorpius without smiling.

The Malfoy boy did as he was told, but not without giving his girlfriend a small kiss on the cheek. "Hey that's my boyfriend!" Rose said as Scorpius left.

Blanca just shrugged, "So?"

"So, I was spending some time with him," Rose smiled, not believing her best friend's nerve.

"Yeah, let's let those hickeys on your neck have some time to heal before they become permanent scars shall we?" Blanca said as Rose instinctively threw a conscious hand to her red splattered neck, "Anyway, glad I found you here," Blanca continued as she gave Rose the note from McGonagall.

"Do you think it's bad?" Rose asked.

"I don't know what to think."

"What do you mean?"

Blanca explained what had happened with the xyiophalagus and how she took the blame for it to a Rose that was nodding as she took in every detail of the story.

"You really did it this time, didn't you?" Rose said, it was not really a question.

"If I get suspended, my father will kill me twice."

"But we don't know for sure if its' what you're being called for." Rose tried to assure her.

"Yeah, but I think I can blame it on his new girlfriend," Blanca said without listening to Rose's last comment.

"What?" Rose asked, confused.

"Huh?"

"You said your dad has a new girlfriend, how come I didn't know?"

"Because you have been too busy jumping Malfoy," Blanca replied.

"I have not!" Rose said, blushing a vicious red, "Anyway, tell me what happened."

Blanca sat down on the hay and started to tell her everything that had happened, from the previous night with James, to her fight with Albus to her father springing a hot model on her.

"That's why Al has been in such a rotten mood," Rose said thoughtfully, "and you shagged James?"

"No! Have you not been listening?"

"Wow, where was I when all this was happening?" Rose mused.

Blanca gave her the look, "Are you sure you want me to answer that one?"

Rose did not respond, instead, she shifted on the floor next to her best friend, "I don't know what to say." She said quietly.

Blanca glanced at her watch, it was ten minutes to when she was supposed to see McGonagall, standing up and brushing any hay that was on her, she said, "Well, I have to go now, it's been a nice half hour with my best friend, such things are rare these days with a certain Malfoy around but anyway-"

"Okay I get it!" Rose laughed, "I'll try to balance friends and boys better in future."

Blanca smiled silently as she made her way to the castle, the McGonagall's office was near the entrance hall, and as she passed it, she took a look at the large hourglasses that had the house points in them, Slytherin was in the lead with the emeralds nearly at the halfway mark, she looked at the Hufflepuff one, the one hundred and ten points she cost her house slunk them back into last place, the little amber pebbles barely scraped the bottom. The reality of losing her house nearly half of its points stung her eyes, but Blanca willed the tears away as she took a deep breath and climbed the stairs that led to the office. She reached a large hallway that had a gargoyle in the middle and said the password, the gargoyle jumped aside and led her into a smaller hallway with a door at the end, outside the door were some chairs and she saw that two of them were occupied by Antonio Zabini and Ravenclaw's Gordon Mosley. Blanca's mind quickly did the maths of the situation and released a sigh of relief when she realised that it must have been something to do with Quidditch as the two were captains of their respective houses.

She mumbled a tiny goodmorning and took her seat furthest away from the door. A few minutes later, James barged into the office and took the only remaining chair opposite her, she could see that his hair was still wet, probably from a post-practice shower, and his clothes slightly clung to his body.

He nodded to the other two, as if greeting them and turned his cold green glare on Blanca, who pointedly avoided his gaze.

"I see we're back from the dead Thomas," he said.

"Unfortunately for you, I have a long healthy life ahead of me," came her cold reply.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, the door opened and they quietly walked into the office. Like always, when she came into McGonagall's office, Blanca's gaze was drawn to the portraits of the previous heads of the school, most of them were asleep and those that were awake were quietly minding their own business.

"Please, sit down," McGonagall said as they walked in, "I see we are all well," she said, giving Blanca a pointed look before turning her gaze to the other three.

After they awkwardly sat down, McGonagall continued, "Tea, anyone?" and when they all declined, she carried on, "Now, you may be wondering why I called you here like this but there is something that needs to be resolved as soon as possible." She paused for a bit before continuing, "As you may have noticed, Madam Hooch did not return this term, this is because she had to retire," she paused to let them take the news in before she continued, "Now, of course, as tradition will have it, at the beginning of the school year, we do announce the new teachers but this term, the new quidditch coach was not sure whether she would do it and only just came in this morning. We have decided to properly introduce her to the school this evening but as you here are the quidditch captains, it would only be right that you got acquainted beforehand." She paused and took a sip of her tea.

"Sorry ma'am," Mosley took her pause to speak, "But when are we going to meet her? Seeing as she's not here right now."

"Well Mr Mosley," McGonagall replied, "Madam Jones will be with us in just a minute. A little patience will do," she said a little too sweetly.

Blanca tucked her thumbs in her jumper pockets and softly shuffled her feet, she decided that being quiet would be the best thing she could do after the stunt she pulled the previous day.

Suddenly, an owl flew into the window and dropped a letter on the desk before flying out, McGonagall read it from her square glasses and looked up at them, "Well, I think our meeting has come to an end, your coach will be waiting for you in the quidditch sheds, please be quick."

The four did not need to be told twice as they shuffled out of the office and made their way to the quidditch pitch, none of them said two words to each other and soon enough had made it to the shed.

In the main area that connected the four houses' changing rooms, sat their new coach. Facing away from them, she had on deep green short-sleeved quidditch robes and had her dreadlocks tied in a ponytail behind her. A few seconds later, she stood up to face them. She was tall, possibly 6'1 at the least, she was slightly stocky and looked just about forty years old, even though in reality was way older than that, a tattoo of a harpy was flying around her left arm and she had a stern face, one that said 'You don't want to mess with me'. She took a few steps towards the four, who had stopped dead in their tracks when they realised who they were standing face to face with.

It took Blanca a few moments to realise that she was standing before Gwenog Jones, one of the most legendary quidditch players of all time. Of course Dean had told her of the times he had met her, but she, Blanca Nandi Thomas, had never ever gotten the chance to meet her. She had met hundreds of great quidditch players but like her peers, this was the first time in her life that she had come face to face with Gwen the Great, and so was as speechless as the others.

"Well," Jones said, her voice was just like in the radio interviews, feminine but gruff.

"Uh, Madam Jones…." James started but was cut off.

"That is _Coach_ Jones for you," she said holding out her hand for him to shake, "You must be Potter, James Potter," she said, turning to Blanca, she held out her hand, "You must be Thomas, and obviously you are Zabini," she said to Antonio as she shook his hand and turned to Gordon, "Making you Gordon Mosley."

Blanca just nodded, she was too speechless to speak. "It's an honour to meet you ma'am," Mosley started, but was cut off by Jones.

"Again, that is Coach Jones to you sir," she said, "and don't start the loving just yet, you ain't seen nothing yet. Walk with me." She said as she briskly walked ahead of them.

"So," she started, "you four are the captains of your respective teams eh?" it was not a question.

There was an awkward silence, each student too scared to speak; it was really daunting to be in her presence, she abruptly stopped and turned to face them, "I don't expect to be speaking to myself you know," she said.

"Sorry coach," James said, "I think we're all just taking this all in."

"You didn't expect me to be your new coach," she said as she turned and continued walking, allowing the other four to tentatively follow her, "let me tell you that I was quite surprised when I got the call, initially, I turned the offer down," she paused for a second then continued, "but I got to thinking and maybe this could be best for all of us, I haven't worked with people your age in a while."

The four still continued to look at the back of her head dumbly, still lost for words, Jones looked up and around the pitch, as if studying it, Blanca could hear her mutter a few things lowly, only just catching the phrases "Seems good enough...could do with a bit of work," and other observatory comments.

Turning to face the four, she spoke up once more, "So, do you have any questions, any suggestions?"

"Well yes," Mosley spoke up, "We were already given the timetable of the Quidditch cup match, and I noticed that this time, we start earlier than normal," he said.

Realisation struck Blanca's mind, it had not crossed her mind that the games had been scheduled to begin a whole two months earlier than normal, no wonder the pressure was mounting.

"And I understand that the coach does set the dates no?" Mosley continued, "So, why are we in a rush this year?"

Gwenog thought about that for a while before replying, "Walk with me to my office, there is something I would like to show to you lot."

The trip to her office, which was a few doors away from the Great hall, was short and uneventful, she gestured for them to sit in the chairs as she went to her supply closet to pull something out. She came back with a piece of parchment then she set on her desk as she took her seat.

"You see," she said, "The World Quidditch Association has been discussing for a while and throwing around ideas here and there, and it was brought to the table that while unity has been brought back to schools of magic after the damage that the second war caused, there still is alienation between the different schools. Let's take Europe for example; do you know how many institutions of magic are in Europe?"

"Eight," Mosley replied, "Twelve if you include the institutions of higher learning."

Blanca's eyebrows rose up in surprise, believe it or not, she thought there were only three.

"And yet Hogwarts only interacts with Durmstrang and Beaubaxtons right?" Jones asked as though reading Blanca's mind.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Zabini spoke up for the first time.

"Look at this," she rolled out the parchment for them to see. It was a map of the world, there were many little dots placed across areas Blanca deduced were countries, "these are all the noted schools of magic in the world, and the Association has been organising a worldwide inter-school Quidditch tournament."

"So it's like a Quidditch world cup, but only for students?" Blanca asked.

"You could put it that way," Jones replied, "this has not been announced yet, I actually only just got the information from a connection, I thought we could start our tournament early so I could see how good you are and try to form a team from that."

"But isn't that like cheating?" Blanca asked.

"No, your headmistress knows about it," she replied, "all the heads of the schools are going to find out about this midnight tonight, so there is no harm done."

"And when will the rest of the world know about this?" James asked.

"It will be announced on the first day of October," she replied, "You know, they want some big, half arsed ceremony," she said, making the students chuckle. "So, the host countries will be announced and you guys will be put in groups, you know, like countries, only this time schools, you will play qualifier matches and the top twenty teams will make it to the host countries to go for gold." She paused to take a breath before adding, "And I expect you to make the top twenty cut." Blanca looked nervously up at the woman sitting in front of her, she meant business and it scared her a little.

"So this whole thing is to bring the schools together?" Zabini asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"But don't you think that competition will only drive us apart?"

"Zabini, think of the Quidditch world cup," Jones said, "okay, now, have you ever been to a pub during the world cup?" Zabini shook his head, "Let me tell you what happens, I'll give an example of the last world cup, there was China and Germany in the finals, that's Europe and Asia, do you know that every European country dropped whatever grudges they had with each other and came together to support Germany? That's what sport does, it brings a feeling of unity and belonging, you may not be able to make peace with every school that will come your way during this cup, but trust me, even the most isolated of people will come out and make a friend when it comes to something they are passionate about."

"That's very touching coach," Mosley said, "but what about school, especially Potter and I, we have our N.E. due by May next year, what's going to happen if the games get in the way. I love Quidditch, but I don't want to fail."

"The Ministry will be able to sort that all out," Jones replied, "they have already come up with something." Then dropping her voice, she said, "you do know that this is top secret until the announcement is made in October yes? We don't want to ruin the surprise for our mates so mum's the word on this one yeah?"

The four feverishly nodded, this was all happening too fast for Blanca. What if they did not make the cut? What if she did not make the cut for starting team? Jones' voice roused her from her thoughts.

"So, now that we are done with this," she wrapped up the parchment and put it in a drawer next to her desk, she looked up and continued, "there is two more favours I would like to ask from you four."

"Go ahead," James said calmly.

"First off, I would really appreciate it if you four sat out your first Quidditch matches for the inter-house cup," she said.

"Wha-" Blanca breathed.

"The first game is arguably one of the most crucial games of the season," James argued, "you can't do that!"

"I need to see how your teams work without their captains," Jones explained, "it's really important for me to study them that way, and you will be helping me with their stats and data also."

"That's just ridiculous," Zabini mumbled below his breath, receiving a sharp glare from Jones.

"And secondly," Jones continued, "because of the inter school tournament, I'll have to be away during certain times because they will be needing to meet with the school's respective coaches in order to ensure transparency for the whole thing to work out."

"So?" Blanca asked.

"So, I will not be able to give the first and second years their flying practise lessons," Jones explained, "And that's where your help will come in."

She rummaged through her drawer again and came back with four pieces of parchment, "Now, I talked to your headmistress and she allowed this, seeing as your grades are all good enough to allow space for extra activities," she handed them their parchment according to the name labelled, "and you'll be able to receive extra credit for this," she said pointedly to Mosley, who looked like he was about to speak up again.

Blanca looked down at her copy, which read:

_Casablanca Nandi Thomas_

_Student number: HF1771_

_House: Hufflepuff (HF)_

_Table_

_Monday: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Second years 14-15hrs_

_Tuesday: First years 16-18hrs_

_Wednesday: Second years 08-10hrs_

_Friday: Hufflepuff and Slytherin First years 10-12hrs_

_Partner: James Potter_

Blanca's eyes froze on the last words on her table: James Potter.

"Coach," she and James simultaneously spoke up, he must have read their lists at the same speed.

"Yes?"

"We can't-" they both started to say but stopped, glaring at each other.

"We can't work together, Potter and I," Blanca finally said quickly.

"Yeah, we can't agree upon anything it will be disastrous," James chipped in.

"Well, you're agreeing upon something now," Jones replied, "you'll just have to work out your differences and act professional."

"Is there any way we could switch with one of these guys?" James asked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind working with Mosley or Zabini," Blanca agreed.

"We don't even talk," Zabini mumbled.

"Oh poo!" Blanca chastised, "You don't talk to anyone, and besides, we can always start."

"The tables have been specially designed to fit your learning schedules, and unfortunately, if you guys were paired any other way, it would clash with your schedules," Jones explained, "Zabini and Mosley have more classes, which is why they only have two days to tutor."

"Damn you two for having too many classes," Blanca hissed at Mosley and Zabini who were sitting at either side of her.

"Okay then, are we all good?" Jones asked.

The four nodded.

"Well then," she replied, "I have to sort out my things and settle in...so," she waved them away, "you are free to go and do...whatever it is you people do."

"It was nice meeting you ma'am," James said as he was sliding out if his chair.

"Coach," Jones corrected.

"Sorry," James whispered as he rushed out of the room.

Blanca rushed out of the office, and hurried down the corridor. What she needed was a shower, glancing at her watch, it was nearly one O'clock and her tummy was beginning to grumble and protest, whatever she had eaten the previous day had been siphoned off in order to stop the poisoning from spreading and the toast she had at breakfast barely lined her stomach.

She quickly navigated her feet to the common room and finally the dorm. Opening the hatch door, she climbed in, she had expected the dorm to be empty at this time but she found Paige and Melanie on Melanie's bed, they seemed to have been in hushed conversation until she walked in because they abruptly stopped talking and looked up to see who had just walked in.

"Hi B!" Mel smiled brightly at her friend as she walked towards her bed.

"Hello Blanca," Paige said, "I hope you are feeling better."

"Hi guys, yeah, I'm good," Blanca replied as she rummaged through her trunk for some shampoo, "hey Mel, are you busy this afternoon, cos I was thinking that maybe we could hang out after-"

"Uh, actually Blanca I promised Paige I'd go to Hogsmeade with her later today," Mel cut in.

"But I thought you weren't going to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"Well, I sort of changed my mind," Mel replied.

"Oh," was all Blanca could manage to say, "So, how was practise yesterday?"

"We cancelled, after you went to the hospital wing, no one had the heart to continue," Mel explained.

Blanca nodded slowly as she headed out of the dorm and out into the corridor, luckily for her, since she was captain of her team, she was allowed to use the prefects' bathroom and so could have a bath at any time of day whenever she felt like. Quickly walking down the corridor, she found the Hufflepuff entrance to the bathrooms and tapped the password, opening the door. Skimming the marble floors, she walked into an empty cubicle and turned one of the golden taps, letting the hot water massage her body as she washed, she let out a deep breath, allowing her mind to drift away for a minute. Her moment was harshly interrupted by a loud thud outside her cubicle, turning off the water and grabbing her wand which was in the compartment that was provided above her, she wrapped her towel around her and came out of her cubicle, wand leading the way.

"What the hell!" Blanca exclaimed as soon as she saw what was going on. A few feet away from where she stood was Albus, he was fully dressed and was putting things back in his cauldron that had dropped; so that was what made the noise.

"What?" he asked rudely.

"Do you care to explain why you have a _cauldron _in the _bathroom_?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Albus replied.

Blanca inched towards him and peered inside the large black container, she noticed that the side had the name James scratched on it.

"Wait, isn't that your brother's?" she asked.

Al sneered, "Oh, so the girlfriend is concern-" he did not finish his sentence because she had just socked him in the face, "What was that for?" he asked.

"That was for being an asshole!" she yelled.

Al looked like he was about to say something but he just heaved a sigh and picked up the cauldron and started to walk away.

"You were looking for something huh?" Blanca asked.

"It's none of your business," Al hissed.

Blanca ignored his last comment and continued, "And you thought your brother was responsible, you know, wanting to play a mean trick on you." Al did not reply, "But ask yourself this Albus Potter, when was the last time James ever played a practical joke on you? Oh...what was that? Never." And with that she started to walk away.

"What do you know Blanca?" Al asked.

"Could it be a piece of parchment?" Blanca asked, "If it is, then I know nothing about it," she said dumbly as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Blanca wait-" Al started but she was already gone.

"So, what do you think about this," Blanca handed over her essay on Animagi for Rose to study. It was nearly evening and they were in the library going over their assignments.

"Hmm," Rose observed as she adjusted her reading glasses to see better, "I think it's good, though you could use the word 'Animagi' less," she said as she handed back the parchment.

Blanca went back to making the suggested changes and was so busy doing so- it was difficult trying to find synonyms for such a word- that she did not see Al approaching their table.

"Hi Al," Rose said, looking up from her book, "how can I help you?"

"Just came to ask if I left anything with you when we were studying the other night," he replied, Blanca slowly looked up to see him; he still had that harassed look about him.

"No, you didn't leave anything Al," Rose replied, "Why, are you missing something? You just might want to check with Fred or Ewan, they seem to have a strange fixation for doing such things."

Al sighed, "Never mind."

Blanca nearly laughed but bit it back, resulting in her releasing something that sounded like a snort, earning her looks from Al and Rose.

"What's your issue?" Al asked.

"What's _your _issue?" Blanca retorted, "Can't I choke or snort in peace without prince Albus waging war on me?"

"I'm in no mood for your foolishness right now," Al sighed.

"Fine by me," she said getting up and packing her books, "but the next time you decide to lose something, at least ask around, it sure beats snooping around your brother's things!" she spat, rummaging through her book bag, she pulled out the parchment and threw it on the desk, "See ya later Rose, I know I know, I'm leaving already!" she said to the librarian who was making her way towards their table, a disapproving frown on her face.

Blanca had barely made it halfway down the corridor when she heard footsteps close behind her, she didn't have to turn around to know that it was Al.

"Just leave me alone you dolt!" She bellowed.

"Seriously, what did I do this time?" Blanca spun around to see Scorpius face to face with her.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else," she replied sheepishly.

Scorpius just sighed; this girl really needed some professional help or maybe anger management classes. His mother had forced him and his father to take some, and so far it had been helping.

"Anyway," Blanca continued, "why were you running down the passage, are you late for something or what?"

"No, actually I wanted you to help me with something...it's a surprise for Rose...hey! Don't roll your eyes," he protested as she began to do so, "so, are you in or what?"

"How much do you have?" Blanca asked.

"Seriously Thomas?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"Fine," Blanca replied, "I'll help you just this once, but don't make it a habit."

Scorpius smiled, but only for a split second, "Thanks, meet me at the astronomy tower at midnight."

"What!" Blanca yelled, "That's just ridiculous, there is a reason the night was created you know, and it was for baby Blanca to sleep!" she put her hands in a pillow-like shape and rested her head on it to demonstrate what she meant.

"Oh come on Thomas!"

"Fine," Blanca said after some time, "but only because I love Rose."

"Thanks," Scorpius said, and suddenly, he swooped down and planted a kiss on her cheek. So unlike the Malfoy he was.

"Don't do that again," Blanca said, but even she could not help but smile bashfully at the Malfoy boy's show of affection.

Malfoy just nodded and started to walk away, there was a new bounce in his step that Blanca had not seen before, she smiled and turned to continue where she was going when she crashed into Al's chest.

"So, we're now talking to Malfoy now huh?" he asked.

"Oh, don't be so petty," Blanca said exasperatedly as she started to walk away.

Suddenly, Al grabbed her wrist and shoved her into the nearest class he could find, waving the parchment in her face, he asked, "Okay, where did you find this?"

"None of your bloody business," Blanca sneered and turned to leave but was quickly blocked by Al.

"Seriously Blanca, who gave you this?" he asked.

"Why do you care about a stupid piece of parchment anyway?" Blanca asked, "It's old and wrinkly and useless, you know what, you're weird and that paper is stupid!"

Al gasped, "Is not!" he retorted.

"Yes it is, and you're stupid!" Blanca pushed.

"I am not stupid!"

"Are too!" came the counter.

"You're the stupid one!"

"Stupid!" Blanca said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Idiot," Al mumbled.

"Stupid!"

"Shut up," Al could not help but crack a smile too.

"Stupid. S-T-U-P-I-D. Stupid."

"Shut it." Al said with a small giggle.

Blanca laughed a little, and soon, they were both in hysterics. The relationship these two had was weird and strange at times, but it just was and nothing could be done about it, it was who they were.

"I'm sorry," Blanca said, hugging him and burying her face in his chest.

"No, I'm sorry for being such and inconsiderate git," Al replied.

"Yeah, you should be, you were one."

"Hey!" Al protested, "You were supposed to say something along the lines of 'oh Al, you weren't'!"

"But Hufflepuffs don't lie," Blanca replied with a cheeky smile, "Let's never fight again."

"Yeah, I missed you," Al replied, "so, are you now going to tell me who gave you the parchment?"

"Wanna start another fight?"

"Nope." Al responded quickly.

"Then don't ask again," Blanca replied.

They were now walking out if the classroom arm in arm, Blanca had her friend back and could have never felt happier.

(A/N: Another chapter through, I hope you guys enjoyed it. )


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MONDAYS

Blanca woke up the next day feeling exhausted. But that was because she had spent a good part of the night helping an exceptionally giddy Scorpius plan a romantic dinner with Rose at the astronomy tower.

"Malfoy, I'm already in enough trouble as it is, so if we get caught you're so dead," she warned him.

"Don't worry," he hissed as she passed him an astrology map, "I have it all sorted out."

"Yeah yeah Mr. Prefect," she replied "busy abusing your power."

"Hey, if loving Rose is wrong, I don't want to be right," he said.

Blanca fake-vomited, "Gosh, what has Rose done to you?" she asked in shock, "I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss the rotten rubbish you."

"Oh shut up Thomas," he said glancing at his watch, "the meteor shower is starting in fifteen minutes, Rose might be coming any minute now, you have to leave," he ordered.

"Ouch!" Blanca complained.

"I thought you wanted mean me back."

"Goodnight Malfoy," she mumbled as she started to leave the tower.

And now, here she was, still in her bed, feeling like she had only slept for two minutes. Glancing at her watch which was on her bedside table, she saw that it was nearly eight, pushing the heavy beddings away, she sat up in time to see Mel climb into the dorm, she had on her bath robe and she looked slightly pale.

"G'morning," Blanca mumbled.

"Hi," Mel replied, "We have a class in ten minutes, why are you still in bed?"

"Oh, Herbology right?" she sighed, "I'm not going."

"Why?"

"Got suspended, that's why?" she replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but even Mel saw through that one.

"What did you do this time?" she asked.

"I was told not to speak of it," she replied, which was the truth, but she would have told Mel had she been in the mood to speak, but right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.

"Oh, okay," Mel replied as she went on to put on her school robes.

"So, what do you plan to do for the rest of the day?"

"I have other subjects to go to- I was only suspended from Herbology," Blanca explained, "And, I think I also have Quidditch with some second years," she said as she reached for her time table.

"Second years?" Mel asked, confused.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Blanca was now fully awake, "coach has assigned us Quidditch captains to tutor first and second years in flying and Quidditch," she explained.

At that, Mel's face brightened, "Wow, you already met Gwenog?" she asked, the whole school had been abuzz ever since Jones was introduced to them as the new coach the previous night, and Mel was not left out in the excitement.

"Yeah, McGonagall had us meet with her before everyone else," Blanca replied, "she's alright, though she demands to be called 'coach' at all times."

"So, you'll be teaching the first and second years?" she asked.

"Yeah, me and James Potter," Blanca replied darkly.

At this, Mel's face dropped, and this was noticed by her friend.

"What?" Blanca asked.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Mel replied.

"Your expression, you sort of went all weird when I mentioned Potter," Blanca replied, "what's up with that?"

"Nothing," Mel replied, "I just know that you two don't get along, so I was imagining your pain."

Blanca nodded, Mel could be like that sometimes, always empathising with others, "Well, thanks, I guess," she said, not knowing what to say.

"Anyway," she replied, "I need to go now, I don't want to be late," and with that, she was gone.

Blanca took a deep breath and looked at her time table, she noticed that her tutoring schedule had also appeared there, McGonagall must have had the timetables charmed to change according to what the student was currently supposed to do. So, right now, it looked like this:

_Casablanca Nandi Thomas_

_Student Number HF1771_

_House: Hufflepuff (HF)_

_**TABLE**_

_Monday_

_08-10: Herbology (Suspended)_

_10-11: Free Period_

_11-12: Charms_

_12-13: Arithmancy_

_13-14: Lunch_

_14-15: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw flying/ Quidditch lessons_

_* The rest of the day is free_

_Tuesday_

_08-10: Free period_

_10-11: Potions_

_11-12: Advanced Potions_

_12-13: Defence Against The Dark Arts_

_13-14: Lunch_

_14-15: Defence Against The Dark Arts_

_15-16: Muggle Studies_

_16-18: First Years flying/ Quidditch lessons_

_Wednesday_

_06-08: Herbology (Suspended)_

_08-10: Second Years flying/ Quidditch lessons_

_10-11: Free period_

_11-13: Advanced Potions_

_13-14: Lunch_

_14-15: Muggle studies_

_15-16: Defence Against The Dark Arts_

_16-18: Arithmancy_

_Thursday_

_07-09: Herbology (suspended)_

_09-11: Advanced Transfiguration_

_11-12: Free_

_12-13: Free_

_13-14: Lunch_

_14-16: Charms_

_16-17:30: Defence Against The Dark Arts_

_Friday _

_08-09: Free_

_09-10: Potions_

_10-12: Hufflepuff and Slytherin flying/ Quidditch lessons_

_12-13: Herbology (suspended)_

_13-14: Lunch_

_14-16: Arithmancy_

_16-17: Advanced Potions_

_*To encourage house unity, visiting hours to other house common rooms are from 16-18hrs from Monday to Friday, and all day on weekends observing the rule that one must be accompanied by a member of said house whose common room is being visited._

Blanca heaved a defeated sigh as she rolled up the parchment once more, wondering what she would do in the next three hours since her will to sleep had somehow vanished. Climbing out of bed, she walked into an empty common room and out to the bathrooms take a long bath, she trudged back to the dorm, and put on her school robes and after dilly-dallying in the mirror for a bit, she sighed again, the boredom was already beginning to sink in and it was not even an hour in. Rummaging through her trunk, she got her Charms text books and some bits of parchment and climbed out of her dorm heading for the library. On the way there, she tried imagining what it would be like at the inter school games, it would probably be sort of like a world cup, surely if her Hogwarts made it, and she was on the team, she would have a lot of exposure and probably some sponsorships from various quidditch companies. At the thought, Blanca's mood brightened as she turned into the corridor that went to the library.

As she entered, the librarian, Mrs Sweet gave her a wary, disapproving look- Blanca was not one of her favourite people, she was loud and always lost books- but Blanca gave her a bright smile and mouthed, "Don't worry, I'll be good today."

Mrs Sweet gave her a small curt smile as she walked past her and sat at the end furthest from Sweet's view. Blanca took out her Charms text book and began to read on the topic they had been studying the previous week.

They had been studying silent vanishing spells, Blanca pulled out her wand and pointed it at her bag, "_Evanesco,_" she whispered, and slowly, the brown leather case vanished from sight.

'Good,' she thought to herself, 'now, to do it silently,' she chuckled, what better place to learn silent spells than in the library watched over by the warden Mrs Sweet herself?

"_Finite Incantatem,_" she whispered, and the bag reappeared sitting on the table in front of her as if it had not just vanished a few seconds ago.

'Okay, now to do it without speaking,' she thought, taking a deep breath, she pointed her wand at the bag, determined that she would do it.

'_Evanesco,_' she willed in her mind. Nothing. Taking another deep breath, she tried it again, still nothing, Blanca pursed her lips together, wondering where this lack of patience was coming from, releasing a frustrated sigh, she dropped her wand and sat back, looking at it dejectedly. Suddenly, her bag disappeared and a few seconds later, reappeared again. In a panic, Blanca looked around, did she just perform wandless magic?

"You know," a voice from behind her made her jump, "non-verbal spells take a lot of patience, something you should know about since you are a Hufflepuff," Blanca did not need to turn around to realise who was behind her.

"Not now Potter, please," she pleaded.

"What?" he asked, "Don't you want some company with your new partner?" he asked as he plopped himself opposite her.

"Yeah, the last time I was in your _company,_ I nearly slept with you and lost one of my best friends," Blanca hissed back, "that's not about to happen again anytime soon." She was grabbing her books and getting up, but James stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"But we _are _going to be seeing a lot of each other," he replied.

"Let go of me you ass-"

"Listen," his face was more serious now, "I didn't come here to mess around with you, we are going to spend a lot of time around one another and if you don't want this whole thing to blow, you and I are going to have to figure out how we are going to get along."

"Are you offering a _truce?_" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, that's what I came for, a truce." His grip on her wrist loosened as she sat back down.

"Okay, so what are your terms?" she asked.

"Simple, you and I try our best to be professional during our teaching sessions and after that, we are back to normal."

"Sounds fair enough," Blanca said after some consideration, "how can I trust you? How do I know this isn't some ploy to get me to look bad or something?"

"Okay, so you want surety," he said, "fine, you ask me one thing, anything and I will answer you honestly. Let's call this our test for honesty, you ask me one question, I ask you one question, is that fair?"

"How do I know you're not lying?" she asked.

James thought about that for a bit before replying, "I know when you're lying, and I promise to tell you the truth- wait a minute!" he said a little too loudly since they had been whispering the whole time, he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a little vial with clear liquid. It still had a stop on it showing that it had not been taken.

"Is that-" Blanca could not finish her sentence as James beat her to the punch.

"Veritaserum? Yes." He replied simply, "Slughorn gave it to me earlier this semester as a gift for helping him brew some of his own."

"So…"

"So, there is enough for two people here, you and I are going to take it and that way, there is no fear of being lied to."

"Potter, that's not allowed remember, that's on the list of potions we are not supposed to take."

"So, who's gonna know?"

"James Potter, the last time I took something contraband, I ended up in the hospital wing, and that was barely a day ago!" she hissed hastily.

"Oh come on, no one is allergic to Veritaserum," James whispered back.

"I thought no one was allergic to xyiophalagus too," Blanca retorted.

"Oh, quit being a bitch Thomas, nothing is going to happen," James answered.

"Yeah, you're really not helping with the whole 'let's make a truce' thing by calling me a bitch," Blanca was now getting angry.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he replied hastily, "but trust me, you're not allergic to Veritaserum." James replied.

"How do _you _know?" she asked.

"Do you remember that Devil's brew you drank at slug club last week, yeah, it had a bucket load of Veritaserum that Ewan nicked from the potions storage room, if you were allergic, we would have known by now."

Blanca was nodding, why were they even arguing about something as simple as Veritaserum even?

"Wait," she said after some thought, "why was there Veritaserum in the drink?"

"We planned to play a game of truth or dare afterwards," James explained, "but someone tipped old sluggy off and believe it or not, you, my friend, are the only one that got a chance to taste the drink that night."

Blanca was nodding, should she trust James, most of her was screaming no, looking at him sharply, she said, "Pass me that vial."

James popped the top off the bottle and gave it to her, throwing her head back, Blanca took a swig of the bland liquid and gave it back to him. James did the same and put the now empty vial back in his bag. Blanca was already beginning to feel the lightness in her tongue.

"You first," James said, just like her, the potion was beginning to start affecting him.

"Okay," Blanca blurted out the first thing she had on her mind, "How did you find out about Malfoy and Rose?"

"That's easy," James replied, "In a bookshop." He said.

"In a bookshop?" Blanca's mind was failing to believe it, had it not been for the potion, she would have sworn he was lying.

"Yeah, I had gone to a bookshop, and saw them snogging for the whole bloody world to see."

"You went to a bookshop, in_ Belfast_?" she asked, still not over the first answer.

"Yes, like I told you."

"What were you doing in a muggle bookshop?" Blanca asked.

"The shop keeper there is really fit, you know Quinn Afterworth?" he asked. Blanca shook her head, "Well, she's a muggleborn in my year and I had gone on a date with her, on the way back, she had to stop to see her cousin at a bookstore she was working at and when we got there, I realised one thing, her cousin is way hotter than her," James explained.

"You're a pig," Blanca said honestly.

"Hey! Don't judge," James replied, "anyway, I started to frequent to bookshop-"

"You were stalking her," Blanca cut in.

"No I wasn't," James protested, "but anyway, one day I was in there and those two idiots walked in, they didn't see me but I saw them."

Blanca nodded, James asked, "Why did you ask me that anyway? That was a question wasted, couldn't you have asked something more important?"

Blanca shrugged, "Dunno," she said honestly, "I just care about Rose too much to let her get hurt."

"Well, her seeing Malfoy is obviously going to result into just that," James said with a click of his tongue, "Your turn."

"Shoot," she replied.

James looked at her for a long while before talking, "That night…we, you know?"

Blanca nodded.

"Would you have gone through with it had we not interrupted and…and," he added hastily, "did you even feel anything?"

"No," Blanca coldly, "No on both counts, but I suppose the answer is the same for you."

James did not look at her, he just sighed and said, "Well, I'm glad we have that cleared now," he was getting up, "See you at practice…partner."

Blanca looked at him go, she swallowed back a bit of regret; truth be told, by the time James got to ask her the question, the potion was already beginning to get out of its optimum performance and she was beginning to control what she was saying, so technically, she had lied to him. It was not that she meant the opposite of what she had said, but more so that she still did not know what to feel about that night and only wished that it did not happen.

"Hey!" a voice whispered sharply and brought her back to her thoughts, she looked behind her and smiled immediately when she saw that it was Al, he returned the smile and climbed on the bench she was sitting on so he could wrap her in his arms, some people would have thought that their friendship was unconventional, maybe somewhat unhealthy since they were toying on the lines of romance, but they themselves found it comfortable and could not care less what anyone else thought.

"Hey," he said softly this time, Blanca loved how calm he would make her feel whenever she was having a hard time within her, "I saw you with my brother, but is seems that you two were somewhat civil, I shouldn't be worried right?"

Blanca wriggled out of his grasp and shook her head, "No, I thought you would have already known by now that James and I are an item," she batted her eyelids in an overly dramatic fashion which lead both to burst into little fits of laughter.

"Shhh…" Blanca said, "Sweet is watching me like a hawk."

When Al calmed down, she continued, "But seriously, I thought you would have known by now that coach Jones made the quidditch captains give flying lessons to the first and second years cos she's busy this term."

"Really?" Al asked.

Blanca nodded, "And your brother James Potter happens to be my teaching partner, so we sort of met to form a little truce between the two of us," Blanca breathed, "Do I have to tell you everything every time you see me and him together?"

Al smiled, "No, I just thought that…" he sighed, "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked you in the first place, it was none of my business for starters."

"Oh Al, you're one of my best friends in this whole entire world, I don't mind," she rested her head on his shoulder, truth be told, she agreed with his last statement one hundred percent, it really was none of his business, "but don't make it a habit of interrogating me every time you think something's wrong."

They sat like that for a while before Al said, "Hey, don't you have a class right now?"

Blanca nodded.

"Then…why are you not going?"

"Got myself suspended from it," she replied coolly.

"Do want to share why?"

"Do you remember my last statement about your interrogating me?"

And with that, Al fell silent about that topic.

"What about you?" she asked, "don't you have a class?"

"Ah, no, I have Charms in about an hour, Care for Magical Creatures after lunch and that's it."

"Lucky git," she growled.

"Your fault for taking too many subjects."

"If you think I'm taking too many subjects, you should see Zabini and Mosley from Ravenclaw's timetables," Blanca replied, "they were the reason I ended up getting paired with Potter."

Al chuckled lowly, "But I still don't know why you take so many subjects," he said, "If I had your opportunity, I would simply take three and forget about the rest."

"What do you mean 'my opportunity'?"

"You know, you are so connected in the quidditch world that you would have millions of teams fighting all over you."

"Says the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley," Blanca retorted, "and that's all I'm saying."

Al smiled sadly, and looked away for only a split second, but Blanca noticed it.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh nothing," he decided to brush it aside but Blanca pressed harder.

"Al," her voice was demanding, "what's wrong?"

Al sighed, a long, sad sigh, and he looked at her, "My parents are splitting up."

Blanca was in shock. "Wha- why?" she asked.

Al just shrugged, "I think they have many reasons, they haven't talked about it much, I only just got my owl from mom today saying so and that I shouldn't be worried and we'll be just fine," he said bitterly as he waved a crumpled up letter he got from him pocket.

"I'm so sorry Al," Blanca did not know what to say.

"And the decided to owl us, they could have come, but no, their jobs are just so hectic."

"Al," Blanca pulled him in for a hug.

"But I could see it coming anyway," Al said as he released himself from her grasp, "dad always coming home late, the little glances exchanged, the arguments-"

"The arguments?" Blanca was even more surprised; the Potters seemed like such a perfect couple.

"The others could not hear them, but my room's near theirs and sometimes, I think they would forget to cast the silencing charms," Al said, "it was either the way dad looked at his new secretary, or dad the reason for my uncle Fred's death, or how my mom quit a promising career just for him," he paused to chuckle, "then other times, it would be about mom's new trainer, or how she's changed, or how she does not seem happy, or how ungrateful she is." He stopped abruptly, his voice cracking up a bit.

Blanca was lost for words, she did not know what to do, what to say, she simply was shocked at this new development.

"I sort of saw it coming, but I did not think it'd be so soon," he sighed, "I thought that maybe they would work out their differences, but I guess I was wrong."

"Al, I'm so sorry," she whispered again, "I'm sorry, is there anything I could do?"

Al smiled sadly at his friend, "B, it's not your fault, we're all going to be okay."

"Wow," Blanca sighed, "Mine is getting a girl, yours are splitting up…"

"It's like they both are doing the opposite of what we want," Al sighed.

"How do you know that?" Blanca asked.

"Well, for starters," Al said matter-of-factly, "I know that you would eat broken glass first before you get to share your father with anyone, and I also saw you storm out of the café in a huff that day."

Blanca just looked at her bag on the desk, "You know," she drawled in a faraway voice, "I was practising a vanishing spell before you got here. I was trying to do it silently…"

"But…"

"But my mind has too much noise in it," she replied.

"You're mental," Al said.

"And you're my friend," Blanca said as she laid her head on his shoulder, "So, do your siblings know about your...parents' split?" she asked tentatively.

Al shook his head, "The perks of being the middle child," he replied, "you get to grow up the quickest and so they think that they can just dump everything on you first, mom said she wanted to tell me first before she notified the others."

Blanca nodded, Al and his mother had always been very close. He fumbled in his robes pocket and pulled out the crumpled letter again, giving it to her, he said, "D'you want to read."

"Al…" Blanca was hesitant, "I don't think it's any of my busin-"

"Just read it, you're my best friend, there's no secrets between us."

Blanca tentatively took the letter and read it, in the curly handwriting she had seen a few times before, it read;

'_My dearest Al,_

_I hope that you are well and that school is going well._

_For myself, I am fine, though I am sure that I have had better days before. Now, what I am about to tell you I wish I could have come in person to say but it could not be allowed due to situations that were beyond my control. Now Albus, you know that all your life, you have been the one I have trusted and entrusted with some of my deepest secrets, and I am sure that your father shares the same sentiments, so though this is tearing me apart as I write, I think that it will be better that you know about it first before your siblings find out because I know that you will be able to find a rational way to deal with it and be able to comfort your brother and sister._

_Okay, I think that I have beaten about the bush too much that I will now just say it; Al, your father and I have decided to go our separate ways. I know it's really bad and unfair especially for you guys but you will find out that in time, it was the best for all of us. Now you need to know that this is not the fault of either you or your siblings but because your father and I came to have differences that could not be resolved; your father and I fell in love in very dangerous times and people had little time to think about what they were doing or what they planned for the future, but I don't want to use that as an excuse because your father and I had many, many happy years together and I would never trade them for anything in the world._

_So, we have decided to get a divorce and even though I wish with all my heart that things could have been different, even just in the slightest, this decision is inevitable and we have tried out best to fix our differences but to no avail. You need to know that I still love your father very much, and I'm sure he loves me as well but in time you will find that love is something that is more complicated than what it seems to be._

_Now, you will need to be prepared son, because the press will soon get wind of this, and you and your siblings will be the target victims and they may try everything to get to you, son, the media are very cruel and you will need an iron will to survive the daggers that will come. This is another reason I have decided to write to you first, because I know that you will be able to take care of James and Lily, they were the ones that inherited my foolish impulsiveness (but don't tell them I said so), you inherited your grandfather's patience and way of thinking things through and I am glad of that. I may owl them later on in the day, or tomorrow, I cannot bear to think of what this will do to Lily and am scared to tell her, worse off, James. Your father will probably owl you as well and let you know._

_Again, I am so sorry that this had to happen like this and wish it could be a little different. I love you son, and know that even though this has happened, nothing is going to change between us, I will always be your mother and you can still come to me whenever you feel like it. The procedures of finalising the separation will start in December so you will be home and we can talk more about it if you want to._

_Mommy loves you and I'm so very sorry this had to happen like this. Please take care of Lil and James and most of all, take care of yourself. I love you, I hope to see you soon._

_Love, _

_Mum.'_

Blanca slowly set the letter down after she had finished reading it. Now, she was clearly lost for words.

"You know," Al chuckled bitterly, "For a paragraph, I was sure that my dad was dead," he laughed for a bit more, "and she kept on apologising for it…how pathetic." He spat.

"Al," Blanca warned.

"Sorry," he said, "I'm still just shocked and angry at both of them, imagine what this will do to Lily, she will be crushed."

"But you will be there to catch her and pick up the pieces," Blanca said soothingly, "that's your strongest point, your gift, you're always there for the ones you love and I know that you won't let them fall," she rubbed his shoulder, "That's what I love about you."

Someone above them cleared their throat and Blanca looked up to see Max with two of her friends, one of them she instantly recognised as Rhiannon Giggs, and the other one, she had black hair and an overly long fringe, Blanca recognised her as Lauren something. Max was looking at her boyfriend expectantly.

"Hey Max," Blanca said brightly.

Max gave a tight lipped smile, "I see you guys have made up," she said softly.

"Yeah, we talked it out," Al said as he got up and planted a quick kiss on his girlfriend's lips, it was like he had switched back to his normal bright self, clearly he did not want people knowing what he was going through. "But now, I have to go and prep for my next class, see you there B?"

Blanca smiled and waved as Al walked round the bend with his things.

"So, you two are as good as new I guess," Max said.

"Yeah, like he said, we talked it out and now, it's all water under the bridge," Blanca said.

Lauren and Rhiannon were wearing smirks behind Max, all shooting daggers at Blanca.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I love most about Al you know," Maxime said sweetly, "How forgiving he can be even though his best friend was being his brother's shag slag behind his back."

"What!" That response came from Rhiannon, clearly, this was news to her.

"Excuse me?" Blanca was taken aback; this was a side of Max she never in her life thought she would have seen.

"Al's a nice guy Blanca, we both know that," she continued, "and I understand that you two have been friends for quite some time. But you have to understand that he's my boyfriend and I will not take kindly to anyone who will weigh him down with their baggage that they can't handle themselves." She took a step towards Blanca, "So, I would very much like it if you stepped back, or better, if you kept your little rich girl princess drama to yourself from now on, it's rubbish and senseless and if you never knew, there are people with _real _problems out there."

Before Blanca could say anything, the girls had already moved on. Sitting back on her desk, she tried to think through what had happened; timid goofy girl Maxime Jaime had just given her, sharp tongued Blanca Thomas, a dressing down in public and she had not been able to utter a single word in retaliation. Whatever was this world coming to?

Her Quillalarmer flashed, showing her that she had a few minutes to get to class, this sort of curbed her shock as she got her books and rushed to her next class.

Luckily for her, the Charms classroom was near the library and so she was not late. Today, professor Flitwick was not present, instead, he was substituted by a swotty little pink faced man whom Blanca recognised as Mr Pepperspool, he was one of the trainee teachers that the Ministry had sent over to Hogwarts for the term.

Class went by smoothly, because Flitwick was not around, they could not do their Evanesco spell, so instead, Pepperspool had them repeat the Aguamenti, which Blanca had perfected some time earlier in the term.

"Okay," he said in a voice that was so gruff one could not believe it was coming from the person speaking, "It's been nice having you in my class-"

"You mean it's nice we've had you for our class," Ewan cut in, much to the laughter of the class and an angry glare from Pepperspool.

Pepperspool angrily cleared his throat and continued, "Now, I am not sure if I'll be taking you for the subject again as Professor Flitwick will be back next time, so I am not at liberty to give you any assignment-" he was cut off again by cheers from the class and a few groans from a select number of students, but continued, "But I would advise you to practise the spell that we have been doing silently…okay- goodbye cla…." He did not even bother to finish as the class had already poured out before he even finished his sentence on the silent spell practising.

Arithmancy was pretty much the same as it always was; with Professor Wendlock, who claimed he was directly related to Bridget Wendlock, to which Blanca did not object since he could have been telling the truth after all. The class was the usual droning of Professor Wendlock on the different properties of the number 3 and its comparison to the numbers 7 and 13.

"Alright class, that's it for now," he said as they packed their books, "and I am going to need 15 inch long essays on your argument on which is the superior number between 3, 7 and 13, of course proving why you think our number of choice is more superior and you need to write your sources." Which produced groans from the class, including Rose who looked especially dishevelled today, her hair was a hornet's nest and her eyes looked like they were about to close anytime.

Since Blanca was seated at the end of the class, near the door, she waited for Rose so they could walk together.

"What's up Lady Malfoy?" she asked playfully as her friend walked towards her.

Rose let a noise that sounded something between a grunt and a snort.

"You look just terrible," Blanca continued, using a mock-posh accent.

"Thanks, cos girls just _love_ hearing that," Rose muttered.

Blanca just laughed.

"I'm so bloody tired Blanca," Rose complained.

"Not my fault," she replied.

They were now headed for the Great Hall for their lunch. Blanca was still trying to place Max's brashness earlier, she was the sweetest girl she ever knew, she could never hurt a fly.

"You're quiet," Rose said after some time, "too quiet, what are you thinking about?"

"Uh, nothing," she replied, "I'm just tired too." Which was not exactly a lie.

They sat at the Hufflepuff table, right opposite Bernie and Paige who were caught up in each other.

"Is this how Scorpius and I look?" Rose whispered to Blanca, looking like she was going to be sick.

"I don't know my darling friend," Blanca replied, "Luckily, I've never been around the two of you much, and I think I'll keep it like that," Blanca said, her mouth full of mash potato.

Rose kept quiet and poked at her food in silence, she looked around the hall.

"Looking for him?" Blanca asked.

"No," Rose shook her head, "I'm looking for Al, he looks sort of down today."

Blanca swallowed her food heavily and looked elsewhere, she did not feel like sharing what Al had told her and it was not her business to do so to start with. She looked around as well and saw that he was not at the Gryffindor table, but she could see Max, with her two friends at either side of her, one of them was talking animatedly to the people around her. Turning her gaze back to her food, she continued to eat in silence before a first year approached her.

"Excuse me?" he said tentatively.

"What?" Blanca did not even feign her annoyance.

The boy flinched a little, looking like he was going to cry any minute, he stuttered, "Ssorry, but Mr James Potter sent me to ask you to get ready for the lessons."

Blanca regarded the boy, she wanted to ask why he was calling James "Mr James Potter" but decided against it, first years were strange anyway.

So, she nodded and said, "Sure, tell him I'll be there."

The boy scurried away so fast one would think his shoes were on fire, Blanca returned to her meal and gulped down her pumpkin juice before setting her goblet down noisily, finally waking Paige and Bernie from their love-fest.

"Where to?" a sleep deprived Rose asked.

"Quidditch," Blanca mumbled before leaving the bench and a nodding Rose.

The trip to the changing rooms was short and uneventful, Blanca was opening the door to the changing rooms when Mel walked out. Her eyes looked puffy, like she had been crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Blanca asked, concerned.

"Oh, nothing," Mel said, "I was just getting in some practise when something got in my eye," she giggled a little, "actually, James Potter helped me get it out."

Blanca nodded passively, "Okay," she said, but not without giving her friend one extra look, "are you sure you're okay? You could go and get it checked at the Hospital wing, cos it looks really puffy."

Mel laughed, "Since when did you become the worrier of us two?" she patted Blanca, "I'll be fine," she said, though it sounded like it was mostly to herself, and with that, she was gone.

Blanca shrugged and went to her locker, after getting changed, she walked over to where the school brooms where, she figured it would be best if everyone used the same broom, including herself, the instructor.

In the broom locker, she found James, he seemed to be especially angry at a broom that he had just thrown across the room (even if it was called a locker, it was quite a large room).

"Whoa, Potter," Blanca said as she heard the broom rattle off on the other end of the room, "I don't want to sound like Rose but that's school property."

"Just shut up Thomas okay? Just shut the bloody hell up for once!"

"I thought we had a truc-"

"To hell with that!" he yelled suddenly, causing Blanca to flinch, "Just go away."

"After you cut my lunch short and called me here! I think not, what you're gonna do is calm down cos we have a class to teach, we can deal with your personal stress later."

"Personal stress," he scoffed, "what do you know about personal stress little miss i-grew-up-in-a-perfect-little-bubble-with-my-filth y-rich daddy?"

Blanca took a step back, that was the second jab about her family she had today, "That's not fair James," she said quietly.

"Not fair? Do you know what's not fair? It's when your whole bloody life you've lived in your _perfect_ parents' shadow, always being called the black sheep, when you're just trying your best to forge a different path for yourself so you can be your own person, always being compared to a million family members, always having people either scoff or instantly love you at the mention of your name. No, you don't!" he exclaimed, "And do you know what it feels like when after all these years of trying, you find out that that perfection is just a front? When you find out that your oh-so-perfect parents are-"

"Getting a divorce?" Blanca finished for him.

James looked at her, a pure look of shock on his face, he took a step forward, "How did you know?" he demanded.

"Your brother told me," Blanca replied quietly.

"That's impossible, I only just got my owl a half hour ago and-" he paused, "Oh, of course the golden child gets to hear the breaking news first." He gave a bitter laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blanca was beginning to get offended all over again, but this time, for Albus.

"Oh please Thomas, don't act like you don't know he's the favourite child, the one who took after his legendary father in both looks and mind set, he's the true Potter boy, not me."

"Well, maybe it's because you act like this!" Blanca retorted, "Going around throwing things around, while he's still kept his composure and is dealing with this on a more advanced level. You on the other hand are supposed to be the oldest yet it's you I find having a temper tantrum in a broom locker. You should be ashamed of yourself James Potter."

James looked like he was about to cry, even though many words had been exchanged between him and Blanca, she had never once told him this, but he knew it was the truth, and that's what hurt even more.

He sank down to one of the benches in the room and buried his face in his hands, Blanca stood at her end of the room and looked at him for a while. James heard footsteps and a door closing, he scoffed bitterly, of course she had left. Then, he felt an arm around his shoulders, or trying to get around his shoulders since it was too short.

"It's okay," she said softly, "You can let it out here. It will be our secret if you want."

James felt like he was about to explode, then something happened, it was wet and felt weird: for the first time in years, James Potter broke down and cried.

For Blanca, she never knew that seeing James cry would have this effect on her, she held him in her arms as he cried silently. She continued to cradle him when a sudden thought struck her, Mel said that her eye was looked at by James, who, from the look of the locker, looked like he had been having this tantrum for quite a while. So why did Mel say he helped her? And even so, this room was restricted entry and was soundproof so there was no knowing that he was in here. So, how did she know he was in there? If she was lying, why was Mel doing so? And what would she have been hiding?


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Friends For Keeps

Blanca walked to the showers all muddy and exhausted. For their first lesson, she had made them do laps around the field, and by laps, she made them run while holding their brooms above their heads.

"Good for your balance and stamina!" she had yelled, to be quite fair, Blanca knew she was a terrible teacher and so this was a terrible idea, and moreover, Potter had his 'thing' to deal with and so could not show up for this lesson.

"Well, at least we all had a laugh," she said softly to herself as she turned on the water.

A few minutes later, Blanca was in her school robes and headed for the castle when she bumped into Filch.

"I hear you was nicking some of the xyiophalagus," he sneered.

"Yeah, I _filched _some," Blanca replied coolly, "got a problem with that?"

"I just wanted to tell you that if it were up to me, this school would be seeing you pack and leave for good."

Blanca smiled, "And I just want to say that if it were up to _me,_ cats would be fed to the hippogriffs."

Beside him, Mrs Norris II gave a horrific yelp and jumped into the old man's hands.

Filch looked scandalized, "You take that back!" he yelled, desperately trying to calm the cat in his arms.

"I could, but I don't speak cat," Blanca was on a roll, she was already in enough trouble, how much more trouble could she get into? "Good bye Filch." She said as she pushed past him and walked away.

"Hey, Thomas," Blanca stopped to face Scorpius.

"What is it you want now Malfoy?" she asked irritably.

"I was wondering….if you could do me a favour," he said.

Blanca fully turned around and folded her arms across her chest, "Does it involve staying up at night again cos if it's that…it's never gonna happen again."

"No," Scorpius scratched the back of his head, "it's just involving me this time…..well, me and the Slytherin team."

Blanca inched closer to him, "What are you on about?"

"We would like to offer you a deal," he said, "a pact more or less."

Blanca narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Let me take a shower first, I'll get back to you yeah?"

"Meet Zabini and I in this room at 7pm," he discreetly passed her a crumpled up piece of paper.

"I'm not promising anything though," she said, looking at him warily, "and if I do come, expect company as well."

Scorpius nodded curtly, "Good." And with that, we walked away.

Blanca sighed and laughed silently, she felt like one of those mafia people she had seen in muggle films. Walking the rest of the stretch to the dormitory, she tapped Helga's anthem and got in, it was quiet, as usual, with a few people sitting in those black leather chairs. Blanca quickly went to her room and got her bath robe and shampoo, it was when she was about to walk out that she noticed Paige and Mel on Paige's bed.

"Hi," she said awkwardly.

Paige nodded curtly and Mel smiled.

Blanca gave a short nervous laugh before walking back into the room, "Okay….maybe it's just me….but like, what's going on between…?" she gestured to the two of them, "I don't get it."

"We're just chatting," Mel said.

"Okay," Blanca made a face and shrugged, "it's just you two seem to be getting closer…that's all," she started to inch back towards the door.

"We're just really _close_ friends," Paige replied, "so, I don't get what you're not 'getting'."

"Last time I checked, Mel was my _close _friend, hell, she's my best friend," Blanca said, "now I don't even know what goes on in this room anymore."

"Maybe if you spent less time in the Gryffindor common room…." Paige trailed off, glaring at Blanca.

"Erm….what are you trying to say?" Blanca asked.

"Just forget it yeah?" Paige replied.

"No," Blanca took a step forward, "come on, out with it."

They both kept silent, Blanca scoffed and looked at Mel, "Yeah Mel, you're supposed to be my best friend…there's no secrets between us."

"Oh really?" Mel asked, she had on a sad smile, "When was the last time we ever talked?"

"I always try to talk to you….but you're always with _her _these days that I don't even know what's going on in your life!"

"Don't make this about Paige," Mel said, "a least she listens."

"Oh now, so I don't listen?"

"No, you just overreact and have a go," Mel replied, tears were slowly forming in her eyes, "just like you are doing now!"

Blanca opened her mouth to speak but closed it again, she took a deep breath and started to back towards the door, "I think It's time I went to take a shower yeah?" she said, "And then maybe we could just talk about this the two of us yeah?"

Mel did not reply, she just glared at Blanca as she walked out of the room quickly. Blanca took a quick shower and headed back to the dorm, opening the round door, she found that Mel and Paige were no longer there. Sighing, she put on jeans and a T-shirt and threw her robes over them, walking to her bedside table, she took the piece of paper that Scorpius had given to her and looked at the classroom number that was there, it had never been used in years and was in the east wing of the castle, that part was still partially deserted due to the extreme damage that had been caused by the war. The professors and some aurors had tried to fix it but it was an on-going, very gradual process and they were not even halfway done. Walking into the common room, she spotted Bernie on a sofa, reading a book, taking a deep breath, she called.

"Oi, Bernie!"

Bernie looked up and gave a huge smile, she walked over to him, "I hear you're teaching first years now," he said.

"Something like that," she shrugged, "how are you for 7pm tonight."

Bernie raised his eyebrows and blushed a fierce red, "Uh…"

"Oh come on!" Blanca laughed, "It's not like I'm asking you out on a date or something! It has to do with quidditch."

Bernie nodded and closed his book, "Go on."

Blanca sighed, "I know this is going to sound crazy and all, but the Slytherin team wants to meet us tonight."

"Like for a match?"

"No, I think they want to strike a deal with us," she said in a low voice.

Bernie looked alert and sat up in his chair, "Blanca, are you sure you can trust them? For all we know, this could be a trap!"

Blanca sighed, "I know, but why don't we just go…and you know, see what they have to offer us."

Bernie swallowed, "Where do they want to meet?" Blanca passed his the piece of paper with the venue written on it, he scoffed and shook his head, "No, I am not risking my neck out on restricted grounds Blanca, like I said, this could be a trap."

"Come on Bernie," she begged.

"And since when did you trust a Slytherin?" he asked.

"And since when was a Hufflepuff untrusting?" she countered.

"There is a fine line between being trusting and being stupid," Bernie said, "and doing this…okay, just going to be this place would be doing the latter."

"The, what do you suggest I do?" Blanca asked, he was her vice-captain and there was no one she trusted with this issue more than him.

"Do you think that we could benefit from this deal they want to make with us?" he asked.

Blanca shrugged, "I don't know, that's why they want to meet in the first place."

Bernie sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Okay, let's ask for a change of venue," he said, "then maybe we can listen to what they have to offer….by the way, who approached you about this?"

"Malfoy," there was no point in lying to him.

Bernie nodded, "Of course," he said, "try to find him and ask for a change of venue then."

Blanca fiddled with her still damp hair, "Fine."

The common room door opened and in walked Florence and Linda, Bernie looked at them and smiled, Florence blushed and looked down before disappearing into their dorm.

"What was up with that?" Blanca, who had seen everything, asked.

Bernie just shrugged, "Dunno, she always acts strange around me."

"Maybe she likes you," Blanca wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh don't be foolish," Bernie replied, "besides, don't you have somewhere to go, I've got a book to finish."

Blanca smiled at him, "See you later Macmillan," before she opened the door that led out of the common room and disappeared behind it. Taking her usual shortcut to the Great Hall, she flinched when Al jumped in front of her.

"For goodness' sake Al, you need to stop sneaking up on people!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry," Al said quickly, "but have you seen James?"

"Why would I see James?" she asked.

"Um…you two had that teaching thing together earlier," Al said.

"Oh yeah," Blanca had completely forgotten about him for a while, "last time I saw him, he was in the broom locker down the quidditch pitch," she lowered her voice and spoke in a serious tone, "he seemed really upset, I think he needs someone to talk to."

"Seemed upset about what?"

"Your mom also sent him an owl," Blanca explained.

"Oh crap," Al bit his lower lip, "knowing James, he's probably snuck out to go get a drink or something….he knows he's on his final warning," he fumbled in his robes pocket and pulled out the old crumpled parchment she gave him the previous day.

"So you take out some old parchment instead," Blanca said sarcastically.

"Shh!" Al said, he tapped it with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

"Al what are you tal-" Blanca stopped mid-sentence as a map started to form on the parchment. From the labels, it was the Hogwarts grounds, there were several little footprints as well, "Albus what is this?" she asked.

"You have to swear never to tell anyone about it," he looked at her in the eye.

Blanca shrugged and nodded quickly, "Sure, what is-"

"It's a Marauder's Map, my grandfather and his friends invented it when they were here," he explained, "it lets me see anyone who is on Hogwarts soil and exactly where they are….their movements too."

"So, you're going to see if James' around," Blanca realised.

"There he is," Al said, "oh no."

"What?"

"He's not here anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"He was walking this corridor yeah," Al showed her on the map, "then, he just disappeared. And it's nowhere near the Room of Requirement."

Blanca stared at the parchment, "I think I know where he might be."

"Let's go then!" Al said.

"That's the thing, I know…but I don't know how to get there," she explained, "it was James who took me."

Al's face dropped, but only for a second. He sighed, "Okay then, as long as it's not outside school, then I think he's alright."

Blanca gave a small smile, held his hand and squeezed it gently.

"What?" Al laughed nervously.

"What?" Blanca asked.

"You squeezed my hand," he said.

"So?"

"Last time you did that was before we kissed at the Yule ball," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh, did I now," she quickly let go of his hand and struggled for where to look.

"And you had the same look you have on your face now," he said.

Blanca sighed, "I'm hungry," she said suddenly, "care to go for supper with me?"

"Yeah, sure," Al replied, glad at the change of topic.

"Well then," she said, and started to walk, he quickly caught up to her and they entered the Great Hall together. They sat at the Gryffindor table and as soon as her bottom hit the bench, Blanca grabbed a turkey leg and started to attack it.

"Someone's hungry," Al observed.

"Mmm hmm," she could not talk. She gulped some pumpkin juice and looked at him, "I forgot to ask, um…did you talk to your mom?"

"Yeah," Al shrugged, "McGonagall has allowed for them to come and see us tomorrow, so I hope that maybe we can smooth things over."

Blanca smiled.

"What?" Al asked.

"I like how you've kept calm at all this you know," she said, "if it were me I'd be crying shit loads by now."

Al laughed and playfully shoved her. She shoved him back and their playful fight was soon over when they heard a someone clear their throat behind them. Blanca and Al both turned behind to see Maxime and her friends, all staring down at them.

"Hi," Al said with a smile.

Max quickly put a smile on her face and kissed her boyfriend full on the mouth, not bothering to be polite, she shoved Blanca aside and squeezed herself in between her and Al. Lauren and Rhiannon both sat next to Blanca.

"I missed you," she said, "where have you been all day?"

"I had classes," Al replied.

Blanca rolled her eyes and reached for a bread roll, her attempt was unsuccessful as someone- or more specifically, Lauren, tipped her goblet pouring pumpkin juice all over Blanca's robes.

"What the fuck?" Blanca asked.

"Oh sorry," she said plainly, "it was a mistake."

"Ugh," Blanca used her wand to dry her robes but they were still sticky.

"What's wrong Blanca?" Maxime said in a sugary voice.

"Nothing," Blanca was clearly upset, "I just got a little juice on my robes." She went back to working with her wand.

"Here," Al said, "I know a charm for that, let me help you."

"You take Charms as well do you not?" Rhiannon asked Blanca, "You surely must be smart enough to know a spell no?"

"Slag!" Lauren cough-said.

"Al, I thought you hurt your wand hand," Max said, "you sure you want to use it?"

Blanca huffed and quickly got up from the table. "Blanca!" Al said.

"I'll talk to later yeah," she told him before leaving. Her hands were balled up into fists, these days, why could she just not have a peaceful day in the Great Hall. Halfway down the hall, she met Scorpius.

"Someone seems to be in a hurry," he said.

"Sod off," she replied.

"Someone's upset you," he said, looking at her, "want to talk about it?"

Blanca made a face, Scorpius smiled coolly, "Come on, let's go to my table."

Blanca looked at him, it was funny how in private, he was a nervous wreck, especially over Rose, but in public he was cooler than a fish in water.

"Whatever," she sighed, "I need to talk to you about that thing anyway."

She followed him to the Slytherin table and sat, but not without a few hostile glances from people.

"What?" she barked at third year.

"You don't belong here," the third year smirked.

"Are you looking for a slap?" Blanca asked him.

The third year opened his mouth to speak when Scorpius beat him to the punch, "If you know what's good for you, you will shut up and leave."

The thin faced boy looked at Blanca sourly before getting up and leaving.

Scorpius looked at Blanca, "So, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"This place you want us to meet at," she shook her head, "it's not working for me and my people."

"Your people?"

"You have your people, and I have mine," Blanca retorted.

"So, where do you rather we meet?" Scorpius asked, "Say, the Herbology greenhouses, you know, your home turf and all?"

Blanca shook her head, "That won't work."

"Why not?"

"I've been banned from there," she said quickly.

"Why?"

"Long story that's none of your business," she replied quickly, she got a goblet of water and gulped it.

Someone swept by and sat next to her, putting he in between him and Scorpius, she looked to her side and saw that it was Zabini.

"Zabini," she nodded.

"Thomas," he returned the acknowledgement, "I hear you first day of training was….a complete and utter disaster."

"Depends on who you talk to," Blanca replied, "and if you people want me to go forward with whatever it is you want me to do, you'd better be nice to me Zabini."

Zabini looked at Scorpius, "So you told her."

"Yes, but she won't accept the venue," Scorpius replied.

"It's too dodgy," Blanca said.

"Greenhouses-"

"She won't accept that too," Scorpius said.

Zabini sighed, "Where would you rather we met?" he asked.

Blanca pouted, "I was thinking more neutral ground…how about room Q15?"

"The old Charms classroom?" Zabini asked.

Blanca nodded, "Anyway, before we make anything official and shit," she said, "what is it you want from us?"

"We want to do you a favour," Zabini replied.

Blanca scoffed, "A favour?"

He took a bite of his sandwich, and chewed slowly "Come by Q15 at 7, and then we'll talk details."

There was a loud clang, Blanca looked up and saw that at the end of the Hufflepuff table, Mel had knocked a tray over.

"She gets clumsier every term," Scorpius said.

"Hey, that's my mate you're talking about!"

"Don't know…." Zabini was shaking his head, clearly in his own thoughts and not listening to anything Blanca had said, "maybe it's just me but ever since potter started shagging her, she seems to have improved on the klutziness."

"What?" Blanca asked, clearly shocked.

"Did you not know?" one of Zabini's friends asked incredulously, "James Potter's slipping her one ever since we came back this term, every half arsed idiot knows that!...she's a proper slag."

"Erm, who are you?" Blanca asked, not bothering to be polite.

"Oh, that's my mate Darren," Zabini replied, not bothering to look up, "oh wait," he said, "you said she was your mate right?"

"You pricks," Scorpius said to Zabini and Darren.

"Sorry babe," Zabini said to Blanca.

"I'll see you at seven yeah," Blanca said, getting up, then, looking sharply at Zabini, she said, "and I'm not your babe."

Fifteen minutes later, Blanca was leaning against the wall of room Q15. It was one of the several extension classrooms that had been built outside the castle during the time the castle was being fixed after the war. McGonagall had decided that those students who wanted to learn would not be deprived of their right and ordered a small extension outside be built. To her right stood Bernie and to her left, one of her Beaters, Priya, Bernie had a rolled up cigarette in his hand and was coughing.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Having a smoke," he replied, "what does it look like?"

"Do you even smoke?"

Bernie looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Then get rid of it!" Blanca ordered.

"What an idiot," Priya laughed, she had a gruff voice for a girl.

"I'm an idiot yeah?" Bernie asked, "Nice one chav."

"Oi call me a chav one more time and I'll kick you so hard your gran will feel it!" Priya retorted, Bernie was tall, but she easily towered over him and was bulkier

"His gran will feel wha-" Blanca shook her head, "can you two just stop it! We're meeting Slytherins and the last thing we need to be is divided."

"Why are we even doing this?" Priya asked, her arms folded across her large chest.

"We just want to see what they can offer us and if we're not happy, we leave, I promise!" Blanca said.

"Whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't involve cheating or anything illegal," Priya said, "I'm all up for pacts and stuff but there's a line we need to observe."

"Yeah, keeping up with the Hufflepuff honesty," Zabini's voice surprised Blanca. He had approached them. To his right was Scorpius and to his left were Frida Bullstrode and a guy she did not know.

"You're late," she said.

"What are they doing here?" Zabini asked, gesturing to Bernie and Priya.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Blanca used the same question against him.

Zabini sighed and they all walked into the candle lit classroom. Sitting on opposite ends of the large desk that served as the Professor's, they glared at each other for a while before Blanca sighed, "Well, you brought us here! Now what?"

"Like I said earlier," Zabini said, "we're here to do you a favour."

"What favour?"

"The quidditch cup," Zabini said simply.

"What?" Blanca asked.

"We're offering you the chance to have an easy win at this year's inter house cup," Scorpius said.

"And just how are you gonna do that mate?" Priya asked.

Zabini removed a roll of parchment from his inner robes and laid it on the table, "We've looked at the statistics and have come to the conclusion that Gryffindor's team is the strongest this term."

"Oh that's comforting," Blanca said sarcastically.

"The point is," Zabini said, "they have the highest odds at winning this cup-"

"And we don't want that to happen," Scorpius said.

"So," Zabini continued, "Slytherin and Ravenclaw house take a dive, leaving you to only deal with Gryffindor, cake."

"So…you're saying that you'll lose the matches on purpose?"

"Yes. But only to Hufflepuff house, giving you guys power on the scoreboard."

"Even Ravenclaw house?" Bernie asked.

"I believe I said so," Zabini replied.

"How are you gonna get them to lose?" Bernie asked, "they surely are not going to adhere to this bullshit plan."

"Actually," Zabini leaned forward, "they devised this _bullshit_ plan."

Blanca was taken aback, surely they had thought this through.

"We only need Hufflepuff's cooperation and it's all spin from there," Scorpius said.

"And why?" Priya asked, "Why should Hufflepuff win? Surely you would want the cup for yourselves."

"Yeah," Blanca agreed, "you obviously want something in return."

Zabini smiled and leaned back, "Only a simple contract to ensure this cycle goes on every year. This year, Hufflepuff, the next year Slytherin, and the other year Ravenclaw,"

"What we want is for Gryffindor to be completely cut off from the cup," Bullstrode spoke for the first time.

Blanca took a deep breath and thought about it for a while, the image of her leading her house to victory in her first year as captain was really appealing, but again, these were Slytherins she was dealing with, how sure was she that this was even genuine? But again, the look on James Potter's face at Gryffindor's loss of the cup, it would be their first loss in 5 years if this plan was to work…James Potter, Blanca's blood ran cold then hot again, she had not forgotten what Zabini had said earlier during supper.

'_But what about Al?_' the tiny voice in her head said. She sighed in a frustrated manner, she could not do it to him, he was her best friend. But there was the cup, and winning, and-

"I don't like this idea," Priya woke Blanca from her thoughts, "it's the same thing as cheating."

"There's no cheating involved," Zabini said.

"You're fixing matches mate," the Indian girl with the derby accent said, "that's the same thing."

"Well then, it's not up to you," Scorpius said, "I believe your captain has the final say."

All eyes were on Blanca as she leaned back in her chair, hands in a praying position, she sighed and looked at her teammates.

Bernie shook his head slightly, "It sounds like a good idea," he whispered, "but I'm not sure about it."

"I say we leave it mate," Priya did not even bother to whisper.

Blanca was quiet for a while, her head was spinning. Loyalty vs. glory, honesty vs. respect, a chance to change history, a chance to control the future vs. letting things play out.

"I'll think about it," she said.

Zabini nodded, "Fair enough, best to make the best decision."

She smiled curtly and nodded, "I'll let you know once I make up my mind."

"Which would be by when?"

"I'll let you know when I let you know," she said sharply, turning to her teammates, she said, "Let's go."

All the way back to the common room, Priya was going on about how much of a bad idea this was. "They're Slytherins for cryin' out loud, we can't trust them 100%!"

"She has a point you know," Bernie said quietly.

"But this could be our only chance," Blanca started.

"No, we could also win this through our own hard work!" Priya said, "I don't know a lot about many things but I sure do know that that's what being a badger is all about!"

Blanca sighed, she swore once she became captain that she would always put her team first, no matter what it came down to. She turned to Bernie, "Round up the rest of the team, emergency meeting in the changing room."

"So, you mean that they are giving us the cup for free?" Calvin asked.

"Come on, this is Slytherin we're talking about, nothing is for free with them!" Priya replied.

There was mumbling amongst the team members, Blanca exasperatedly growled and said, "Alright! I brought us here to tell you people about this! So what do you say?"

"I say no," Priya was the first to speak.

"Anyone else?" Blanca ignored her.

"I'm not really up for it," Jerome said nervously, "it just doesn't feel right?"

"Come on guys, this is the cup we're talking about!" Luke spoke up, "We might never get a chance like this again!"

"Erm, do you hear yourself talking?" Priya asked bluntly.

"What about the Gryffindors?" Mel said in a small voice, "It's not going to be fair on them."

"_You're just worried about Potter,"_ Blanca wanted to say, but decided against it. The thought of bringing James Potter to his knees was really tempting, but again, there were rules to be followed in whatever one did.

"I say we pass it up," Bernie, who had been quiet all along, finally said, "what they want is leverage; and if we don't do it, we split the odds back to a fair chance for each team."

Blanca looked at him, she was impressed. But anyway, he was always the smartest one out of the whole team.

"Yeah," Priya said, "and who knows, we could get suspended for this crap."

Everyone was nodding in agreement and Blanca spoke up, "So we are all together on no right?"

"That's the one," Bernie said.

"And we don't tell anyone about this," Priya said, looking directly at Mel.

"What?" Mel protested.

"You're the one with the biggest gob out of all of us," Priya said, "don't deny it."

Mel just rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "Whatever." She whispered.

Blanca pursed her lips, "Okay, I think we can all go back now," she said, "I'll see you lot during practise tomorrow."

Everyone mumbled their goodbyes and got out of the locker room, Mel was the last one to leave and Blanca called to her.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Remain behind, I need to talk to you," she said.

"A 'please' would not hurt you know," Mel said.

"What's this I hear about you and James Potter?" Blanca did not try to beat about the bush.

"Does this have to do with the team?" Mel asked, "Cos as far as I'm concerned, there are no specific rules against seeing rival teams."

"No, it's got nothing to do with quidditch," she said, "it's got to do with the fact that you're my friend."

"Then, as my friend, it's none of your business," Mel started to walk out but Blanca beat her to the door and leaned against it.

"Have you been sleeping with Potter?" Blanca looked her in the eye.

"So what if I have?" Mel shrugged.

Blanca gasped, all along, she had been praying for it to have been some silly rumour, "Mel, you can't be!"

"Can I please leave?" she asked.

"Mel, you know Potter is bad news," Blanca said, "you must stop seeing him."

"Are you commanding me to stop seeing James?"

"No, I'm begging you."

Mel scoffed and folded her arms, "Paige totally warned me about this."

"She knows?"

"Why do you always have to be so selfish Blanca?" Mel asked.

"What?"

"I know you've always fancied James, you've wanted him for yourself ever since we were in fourth year-"

"What has gotten into you?"

"And now, now I have him. For once, I have something that you don't and you don't want me to be happy!" Mel hissed, "Because it's always about you, it's always the 'Blanca show'!"

"Are you serious right now?" Blanca asked, "All I've done in our friendship…all I've ever done is look out for your arse and this is how you repay me? By accusing me of being selfish?"

"Is it really an accusation?" Mel narrowed her eyes.

"Do you know how it feels like hearing someone call your best friend a proper slag right in front of you?" Blanca asked.

"Oh is that what they're calling Weasley now?"

"That's what they were calling _you!_ You're still my best friend Mel!" Blanca shouted, "And Rose aint the one causing local gossip at the Slytherin table!"

"So you're now sitting with Slytherins," Mel whispered, "no wonder they almost made you admit to that stupid plan…which by the way James is going to hear about."

"Oh, you know I've always had friends from all houses," Blanca protested, "and you swore you wouldn't tell anyone."

"He's my boyfriend Blanca," Mel said.

"Boyfriend?" Blanca stopped, "He is not your boyfriend!"

"You're just jealous!"

"And you're just naive. Blanca shot back, "Tell me, who did he take to Slug Club with him? Who is he found with all the time? With whom is the whole school saying he is together with? Jenna Hart!" Blanca said, "Don't you think that by now, if he was your boyfriend, he would have made one of those stupid 'official announcements' he makes all the time?"

"You don't understand, it's complicated," Mel was on the verge of tears.

"Fine," Blanca said, "I won't tell you what to do, but don't, and I repeat, don't come crying to me when your heart's and your reputation is in shambles cos that's what going to happen."

Mel shook her head, "Trust me, it's not you I'm going to be coming to."

Blanca sighed and pursed her lips, "Fine then…but just know, if you walk out of this door, you and I are done."

"Good, now move," Mel said, when Blanca did not move, she balled her little hands into fists and yelled, "just sod off!"

Blanca moved aside and Mel opened the door and disappeared behind it. Blanca was left alone to her thoughts, she leaned against the wall, sighed and finally sunk to the floor, exhausted; physically, mentally and emotionally.


End file.
